Events in Physics
Ilya Mandel (Birmingham)
Astronomy Seminar
Ilya Mandel
(University of Birmingham)
Title:
GWastrophysics of compact binaries
(yes, GWastrophysics is meant to be one word ;-) ).
Abstract:
The first direct detection of gravitational waves from mergers of black holes and neutron stars by ground-based interferometric detectors LIGO and Virgo are anticipated in the next 5 years. They will provide us with a new probe on the Universe and enable us to explore compact-binary astrophysics and strong-field general relativity. In this talk, I review the current knowledge of the coalescence rates and parameter distributions of merging neutron-star and black-hole binaries and the data-analysis challenges associated with finding their signatures in noisy data. I emphasize the bi-directional connection between gravitational-wave astronomy and conventional astrophysics. I report on ongoing efforts to develop a framework for converting gravitational-wave observations into improved constraints on astrophysical parameters and test of general relativity, and discuss future developments necessary to the success of gravitational-wave astronomy.
