PIRSA:21040001

Black hole archaeology with gravitational waves

Croon, D. (2021). Black hole archaeology with gravitational waves. Perimeter Institute. https://pirsa.org/21040001

Croon, Djuna. Black hole archaeology with gravitational waves. Perimeter Institute, Apr. 06, 2021, https://pirsa.org/21040001 

          @misc{ pirsa_PIRSA:21040001,
            doi = {10.48660/21040001},
            url = {https://pirsa.org/21040001},
            author = {Croon, Djuna},
            keywords = {Cosmology},
            language = {en},
            title = {Black hole archaeology with gravitational waves},
            publisher = {Perimeter Institute},
            year = {2021},
            month = {apr},
            note = {PIRSA:21040001 see, \url{https://pirsa.org}}
          }

Djuna Croon

Talk number
PIRSA:21040001
Collection
Talk Type
Subject
Abstract

The growing gravitational wave dataset makes black hole population studies possible. In this talk I will demonstrate how such studies can be used to study particle and nuclear physics. The key insight is that a wide range of initial stellar masses leave no compact remnant, due to the physics of pair-instability; the unpopulated space in the stellar graveyard is known as the black hole mass gap (BHMG). New physics can dramatically alter the late stages of stellar evolution and shift the BHMG, when it acts as an additional source of energy (loss) or modifies the equation of state. I will demonstrate how these predictions can be tested with the gravitational wave observations by the LIGO/Virgo collaboration, and show what we can already infer from GWTC-2.