Geoffrey Compère
Description
Binary Black Hole Waveforms in the Era of Gravitational-Wave Precision Physics
When black holes collide, their gravitational waves carry a record of gravity in its strongest regime. These signals let us test Einstein’s theory and investigate how black holes form and grow. The LISA space mission and the proposed Einstein Telescope and Cosmic Explorer observatories promise to reveal these events in far greater detail. Interpreting their observations will require theoretical predictions of unprecedented accuracy. Otherwise, an imperfect description of a signal could be mistaken for evidence of new physics. I will discuss what current observations reveal and the scientific opportunities that motivate this precision. The challenge is to follow two black holes through their orbital motion, merger and final ringing. I will review complementary approaches to this problem, focusing on binaries with very different masses. Recent work extends this description from slow orbital evolution into the rapid plunge and merger. These developments connect our understanding of black-hole dynamics to the reliability of future tests of gravity.
When
Monday, November 2, 2026 11:00 AM
Where
Inperson
G10
Virtual
Zoom
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