The dynamical origin of black hole mergers

by Bence Kocsis (Eotvos University, Budapest, Hungary)

Tuesday 15 Nov 2016, 16:00 → 18:00 Europe/Rome

Aula Conversi (Dip. di Fisica - edificio G. Marconi)

With the detections of the gravitational waves emitted during black hole mergers, LIGO has recently opened the field of gravitational wave astrophysics. In this talk I will discuss some of the astrophysical processes that may be responsible for the observed events. Although less than 0.5% of the stellar mass is in dense stellar systems, a large fraction of the black hole mergers may originate in these environments. I will show that black hole holes may dynamically settle in a dark disk which further enhances the encounter rates. Moreover, accretion disks in active galactic nuclei may also facilitate black hole mergers. Finally, if primordial black holes constitute a fraction of dark matter, gravitational waves may shed light on its composition. I will discuss predictions on the event rate distribution that may be used to disentangle these astrophysical processes to understand the origin of the observed gravitational wave events.