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Dynamical Formation of Black Hole Mergers

Project description

New tools to probe black hole merger formation

The recent observation of gravitational waves from a binary black hole merger marked the beginning of a new era in astronomy. Next-generation ground detectors hold promise for leading to many discoveries in gravitational wave astrophysics. The EU-funded BlackHoleMergs project will develop new tools to probe the origin of binary black hole mergers in unprecedented ways, with focus on constraining the dynamical formation of gravitational wave sources. Researchers will provide the first and largest public database on light scattering from black holes and develop new models that describe binary black hole formation over large timescales.

Objective

Gravitational wave (GW) astrophysics is bound to have an exceptional future building on the success of LIGO/Virgo and propelled by the next generation of ground-based detectors (expected to see hundreds-of-thousands of GW sources per year) and space-borne observatories, such as LISA and DECIGO (that will make multi-band GW astrophysics a reality). This ERC research program will lead to new ideas and tools to probe in unprecedented ways the origin of binary black hole (BBH) mergers, with particular focus on constraining the dynamical formation of GW sources. I will address the outstanding question of how BBHs form and merge in our Universe by providing the GW community with: (1) - The first and largest public BH scattering data-base, with BBH merger probabilities and GW observables derived from general-relativistic few-body interactions, thought to dominate BBH assembly in environments from globular clusters to Active-Galactic-Nuclei disks. This initiative fills out a major gap and will ensure a consistent progress in this field. (2) – A new method for modeling the formation of BBHs in dense stellar clusters throughout cosmic time. It will be based on a new hybrid approach that evolves BBHs on top of a stellar background that is evolved using statistical mechanics. Combined with our BH scattering database, this framework will be the fastest and most accurate way of modeling BBH mergers in stellar clusters. (3) - A new way of directly observing the formation of eccentric GW mergers in three-body scatterings through GW phase-shifts measurements, caused by tidal-forces and time-delay effects from the third body. This idea opens up for the possibility of probing the origin of individual BBH mergers using LIGO/Virgo and future detectors. We will be the first group to present a new search strategy for quantifying what can be learned about each individual triple system and its astrophysical environment.

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Topic(s)

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) ERC-2021-STG

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Host institution

KOBENHAVNS UNIVERSITET
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 1 919 186,00
Address
NORREGADE 10
1165 KOBENHAVN
Denmark

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Region
Danmark Hovedstaden Byen København
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 1 919 186,00

Beneficiaries (1)

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