Gravitational Waves | ICCUB
Gravitational Waves
The detection of gravitational waves (GWs) has opened a new window in our understanding of the Universe.
Contrary to what was expected before the first detection, the vast majority of the GW detections by the Advanced LIGO-Virgo interferometers are binary black holes (BBHs) with stellar masses (less than 100 Msun). The origin of these BBHs is not known: they may have a cosmological origin and be part of the dark matter in the Universe, so called primordial black holes (PBHs). Alternatively, they have an astrophysical origin and formed from binary and/or triple massive stars, or they formed in dynamical interactions in dense stellar systems such as star clusters and nuclear clusters.
Neutron star binaries have also been detected in gravitational waves, and these observations have provided key constraints on the mass and radii of compact objects and on key nucleosynthesis processes in the universe.
The different channels for BBH formation make different predictions for the properties of the BBH mergers, such as the merger rate as a function of redshift, masses, mass ratios, spins and orbital eccentricities. Population synthesis modelling techniques are improving at a rapid pace in order to make sense of the GW data. The number of detections is growing precipitously and the data is starting to provide meaningful constraints on model predictions. Planned gravitational wave detectors such as the 3d generation
Einstein Telescope
and the space-based
Laser Interferometer Space Antenna
(LISA) will provide significantly improved sensitivities and allow us to observe at lower frequencies, increasing the accessible BH mass range and the sensitivity to binary properties.
OUR CONTRIBUTION
The ICCUB is a full member of the
Virgo collaboration
, and therefore works at the forefront of GW research. Staff members are making model prediction for primordial BBHs and dynamically formed BBH in star clusters with the aim to constrain their contribution to BBH mergers in the Universe.
Using expertise on nuclear and hadronic physics, our staff provide predictions for the neutron star equation of state and the tidal polarizability that affects the gravitational waveform of neutron-star binaries.
© EGO-Virgo
LINES OF RESEARCH
Primordial BHs
Dynamical BBH formation (N-body & population synthesis)
Instrumentation: Improve sensitivity of detectors
Improvements in data analysis pipelines
Computing and data handling techniques
Neutron stars: equation of state effects in gravitational waveforms
Team Members
Barneo González, Pablo José
(Research Fellow)
Blagorodnova Mujórtova, Nadejda
(Academic staff)
Bondarescu, Ruxandra
(Research Fellow)
Bosch Ramon, Valentí
(Academic staff)
Bulashenko, Oleg
(Academic staff)
Castañeda Pons, Javier
(Technical support staff)
Centelles Aixalà, Mario
(Academic staff)
Emparan García de Salazar, Roberto
(Academic staff)
Espriu Climent, Domènec
(Academic staff)
Fumagalli, Jacopo
(Research Fellow)
Garriga Torres, Jaume
(Academic staff)
Gascón Fora, David
(Academic staff)
Gieles, Mark
(Academic staff)
Iorio, Giuliano
(Research Fellow)
Iwasawa, Kazushi
(Academic staff)
Kożuszek, Jan
(Research Fellow)
Márquez Rodríguez, Roque
(Postgraduate researcher)
Mateos Solé, David
(Academic staff)
Mauricio Ferré, Joan
(Technical support staff)
Moreso Serra, Anna
(Postgraduate researcher)
Notari, Alessio
(Academic staff)
Paredes Poy, Josep Maria
(Academic staff)
Portell i de Mora, Jordi
(Technical support staff)
Ramos Gómez, Àngels
(Academic staff)
Rastello, Sara
(Research Fellow)
Ribó Gomis, Marc
(Academic staff)
Rios Huguet, Arnau
(Academic staff)
Sanuy Charles, Andreu
(Technical support staff)
Skorobogatov, Georgy
(Technical support staff)
Trenado García, Juan
(Technical support staff)
Ubach Raya, Helena
(Postgraduate researcher)
Vanvlasselaer, Miguel
(Research Fellow)
Verde, Licia
(Academic staff)
Wang, Zipeng
(Postgraduate researcher)
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