PIRSA:26010086

Towards Next-Generation Gravitational-Wave Detectors: Intermediate-Mass Black Holes and Stochastic Backgrounds

Reali, L. (2026). Towards Next-Generation Gravitational-Wave Detectors: Intermediate-Mass Black Holes and Stochastic Backgrounds. Perimeter Institute. https://pirsa.org/26010086

Reali, Luca. Towards Next-Generation Gravitational-Wave Detectors: Intermediate-Mass Black Holes and Stochastic Backgrounds. Perimeter Institute, Jan. 15, 2026, https://pirsa.org/26010086 

          @misc{ pirsa_PIRSA:26010086,
            doi = {10.48660/26010086},
            url = {https://pirsa.org/26010086},
            author = {Reali, Luca},
            keywords = {Strong Gravity},
            language = {en},
            title = {Towards Next-Generation Gravitational-Wave Detectors: Intermediate-Mass Black Holes and Stochastic Backgrounds},
            publisher = {Perimeter Institute},
            year = {2026},
            month = {jan},
            note = {PIRSA:26010086 see, \url{https://pirsa.org}}
          }

Luca Reali Johns Hopkins University

Talk numberPIRSA:26010086
DOI10.48660/26010086
Collection
Talk Type Scientific Series
Subject

Abstract

Current gravitational-wave observatories — LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA — have made phenomenal new discoveries that are already making waves in a range of fields from fundamental physics to cosmology. Yet the era of gravitational-wave astronomy is still at its dawn. The next generation of ground-based detectors — Cosmic Explorer in the US and Einstein Telescope in Europe — will bring a dramatic increase in sensitivity, enabling observations across the entire Universe and a comprehensive census of gravitational-wave sources throughout cosmic history. In this talk, I will highlight the transformative potential of these detectors in two key areas: the detection and characterization of intermediate-mass black holes and the study of stochastic gravitational-wave backgrounds. I will discuss some of the main theoretical and data-analysis challenges involved — from modeling the formation channels and population properties of intermediate-mass black holes to disentangling the multiple components of the stochastic background. Finally, I will present recent progress toward addressing these challenges and realizing the full scientific potential of next-generation observatories.