Formation of black hole mergers in dense stellar systems
The recent pioneering observations of gravitational waves (GWs) from merging black holes (BHs) by LIGO/Virgo have already led to new remarkable insight: From the first few events we have learned that BHs do indeed exist, that Einstein's General Relativity (GR) seems to very well describe their merger and ring-down evolution, and that nature is able to pair BHs in compact binary systems. However, many astrophysical key questions still remain unsolved, including, how and where BHs form and what helps them to get close enough to merge on an observable timescale. The project I propose will provide new state-of-the-art insight into such fundamental questions by addressing how BBHs form and merge in dense stellar systems, as well as how well one can infer their origin from their emitted GW signal. In order to achieve this goal, I will develop a new numerical Monte-Carlo framework for evolving dense stellar systems, which for the first time will include: stellar tidal interactions and GR corrections during strong few-body scatterings, orbital diffusion from weak encounters, and secular effects near a possible central massive BH. From my recent analytical models, these effects are expected to lead to the formation of eccentric BBH mergers, as well as other exotic populations, all of which can be used to constrain the dynamical origins of BBHs. The goal is to provide the community with accurate BBH merger distributions that can be used to constrain the origin of BBH mergers using incoming data from LIGO/Virgo. I will carry out the project at the Niels Bohr Institute under the supervisions of Prof. Martin Pessah and Niels Bohr Prof. Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz. The interdisciplinary environment, vibrant atmosphere, and exceptional scientists make the Niels Bohr Institute not only the ideal host for this project, but further ensures that I will mature into a true intellectual leader in my field during the time of the Marie Curie Fellowship.