In dense regions, stellar mass black holes can tidally capture another comparable mass black hole into a highly eccentric binary. Recent estimates of the merger rates of stellar mass binaries in dense galactic nuclei have sparked interest in a class of such highly eccentric black hole pairs. This project will include the effects of spin and orbital precession in a relativistic framework, to analyze the scattering, mergers, and gravitational waves from this interesting source. Another part of this project will consider "supermergers", double-event candidates, which are black hole binaries that emit a burst of gravitational waves on formation and merger, in the bandwidth of ground-based observatories, and then fall into the super-massive black hole at the galactic center, to emit gravitational waves in the bandwidth of space-based observatories. Thus, this work will (1) calculate relativistic scattering of spinning black holes and detection rates in galactic nuclei with a central super-massive black hole; (2) compute the gravitational wave spectra from the distribution of relativistic, spinning orbits; and (3) compute event rates for "supermergers", tidally captured black hole pairs that scatter toward the super-massive black hole at the galactic center within an observable timeframe.
Barnard College is a women's college in New York City affiliated with Columbia University, and each year a Barnard undergraduate will intern with this research group. The plan includes development of a publicly accessible interactive simulator of black hole orbits, offering a research tool to the wider community. Such integration of direct scientific research into undergraduate education promotes Barnard's commitment to increasing the presence of women in the sciences. A complementary aspect involves outreach in NYC high schools.
