Speaker
Description
Gravitational wave (GW) events have raised important and challenging questions for models of stellar and binary evolution. While diverse results have provided valuable insights into the formation of compact binaries, a complementary approach is to investigate the properties of the host galaxies where these events are more likely to occur. This perspective can help us constrain formation channels and merger timescales, adding context to the physical origin of these systems.
This connection is relevant for current GW detectors such as LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA, and will be even more so for upcoming GW detectors like which will detect binary compact object mergers—including binary black holes, neutron star binaries, black hole–neutron star systems, and white dwarf binaries—both in the local Universe and out to high redshifts (potentially reaching z ~ 100).
In this talk, I will discuss what we have learned so far about the host galaxy properties of GW events and the possible connection with other progenitors such as high-mass X-ray binaries. Understanding these links is key to interpreting current observations and preparing for the next generation of GW detections.
