Title: Dark Black Holes Abstract: Gravitational wave detections of merging ultracompact objects provide a completely new way to constrain a large class of dark matter models. If the dark matter consists of a rich spectrum of particles, it will generically contain channels for dissipative energy loss that can lead to the formation of compact objects. We have … Continue reading "CRA Seminar: Sarah Shandera (Penn State)"

Title: Numerical Relativity and Beyond-GR Theories Abstract: Future gravitational wave observatories will deepen our understanding of gravity in the most extreme environments we have probed so far. Ensuring that our measurements of black holes are increasingly accurate will require the calculation of increasingly accurate waveforms for the purposes of parameter estimation.  Our next-generation numerical relativity … Continue reading "CRA Seminar: Marceline Bonilla (Cal State – Fullerton)"

Title: Magnetohydrodynamic accretion onto binary black holes as a source for multimessenger astronomy with gravitational waves Abstract: Supermassive black hole binaries can form in magnetized plasma following galaxy mergers, via bar-mode instability in rapidly rotating supermassive stars, or by other dynamical processes. After formation, a combination of dynamical friction and gas-driven migration is likely to … Continue reading "CRA Seminar: Vasilis Paschalidis (U. of Arizona)"