Strong Gravity

Models for black hole formation from stellar evolution predict the existence of a pair-instability supernova mass gap in the range ~50 to ~120 solar masses. The binary black holes of LIGO-Virgo's first two observing runs supported this prediction, showing evidence for a dearth of component black hole masses above 45 solar masses. Meanwhile, among the 30+ new observations from the third observing run, there are several black holes that appear to sit above the 45 solar mass limit. I will discuss how these unexpectedly massive black holes fit into our understanding of the binary black hole population. The data are consistent with several scenarios, including a mass distribution that evolves with redshift and the possibility that the most massive binary black hole, GW190521, straddles the mass gap, containing an intermediate-mass black hole heavier than 120 solar masses.

We construct, for the first time, the time-domain gravitational-wave strain waveform from the collapse of a strongly gravitating Abelian Higgs cosmic string loop in full general relativity. We show that the strain exhibits a large memory effect during merger, ending with a burst and characteristic ringdown as a black hole is formed. Furthermore, we investigate the waveform and energy emitted as a function of width, radius and string tension Gμ. We find that the mass normalized gravitational-wave energy displays a strong dependence on the inverse of the string tension E_GW / M_0 ∝ 1/Gμ, with E_GW / M_0 ∼ O(1)% at the percent level, for the regime where Gμ ~ 1e-3 . Conversely, we show that the efficiency is only weakly dependent on the initial string width and initial string radii. Using these results, we argue that gravitational wave production is dominated by kinematical instead of geometrical considerations.

Two of the dominant channels to produce black-hole binary mergers are believed to be the isolated evolution of stellar binaries in the field and dynamical formation in star clusters. Pair instabilities prevent stellar collapse from generating black holes more massive than about 45-60 solar mass. This  “mass gap” only applies to the field formation scenario: repeated mergers in clusters can fill the gap. A similar reasoning applies to the binary’s spin parameters. If black holes are born slowly rotating, the high-spin portion of the parameter space (the “spin gap”) can only be filled by black-hole binaries that are assembled dynamically. I will discuss how such signatures are a smoking gun for the hierarchical origin, and how recent detections (GW190521 and GW190412) fit in this context. I will also talk about how we may be able to reconstruct the properties of progenitors of second-generation black holes.

We consider monochromatic and isotropic photon emission from circular equatorial Kerr orbiters. We calculate the critical curve delineating the region of photon escape from that of photon capture in each emitter’s sky, allowing us to derive analytic expressions for the photon escape probability and the redshift-dependent total flux collected on the celestial sphere as a function of emission radius and black hole parameters. This critical curve generalizes to finite orbital radius the usual Kerr critical curve and displays interesting features in the limit of high spin. These results confirm that the near-horizon geometry of a high-spin black hole is in principle observable.

We investigate the precession of the spin of the smaller black hole in binary black hole simulations. By considering a sequence of binaries at higher mass ratios, we approach the limit of geodetic precession of a test spin. This precession is corrected by the ``self-torque'' due to the smaller black hole's own spacetime curvature. We find that the spins undergo spin nutations which are not described in conventional descriptions of spin precession, an effect that has been noticed previously in simulations. These nutations arise because the spins are not measured in a frame where the smaller hole is stationary. We develop a simple model for these frame nutations, extract the instantaneous spin precession rate, and compare our results to PN and extreme-mass-ratio approximations for the self-torque.
 

In compact astrophysical objects, such as neutron star magnetospheres, black-hole accretion disk coronae and jets, the main energy reservoir is the magnetic field. The plasma processes such as magnetic reconnection and turbulence govern the extraction of that energy, which is then deposited into heat and accelerated particles and, ultimately, the observed emission. To understand what we observe, we first need to describe from first principles how these processes operate in violent regimes applicable to certain classes of compact objects, where radiative drag and pair production/annihilation play a significant role. As a specific example, I will briefly cover our state-of-the-art understanding of one of these processes — magnetic reconnection — and present the first self-consistent simulations of QED-mediated reconnection in application to neutron star magnetospheres and explain how it helps us understand the observed gamma-ray emission from these objects. I will also talk about the future prospects of this area of research; QED-mediated plasma processes also take place in a variety of other astrophysical objects, such as the accretion disk coronae in X-ray binaries, coalescing neutron stars shortly before their merger, and short X-ray bursts in magnetars.

Abstract: Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) associated with gravitational wave events are, and will likely continue to be, viewed at a much larger inclination than GRBs without gravitational wave detections.  Viewing GRBs and their afterglows at large inclination can massively affect the observed electromagnetic emission, as dramatically demonstrated by the binary neutron star merger event GW170817.  Analyzing this event and future ones requires an extension of the common GRB afterglow models which typically assume emission from a structureless (top-hat) jet viewed on-axis. I will review the evidence for inclination effects in GRB afterglows, and present a characterization of afterglows viewed at all angles from jets with and without structure. We find new closure relations for off-axis structured jets: the slope of the light curve is found in many cases to be a simple function of the inclination angle. With our theoretical tools in hand I will discuss new candidate kilonova events found in the GRB archive, showing features very similar to GW170817. Finally I will discuss our numerical model to calculate synthetic light curves and spectra, publicly available as the open source Python package afterglowpy, and the steps needed to improve our capabilities for the next LIGO observing run.

Compact binaries may be formed dynamically in globular clusters, with large (close to unity) orbital eccentricity and emitting gravitational waves within the detection band of ground based detectors. The gravitational waves from such sources resemble more a discrete set of bursts than the continuous signal of their quasi-circular counterparts. I here discuss the construction of new analytic waveforms for such systems, which rely on treating the problem as a perturbation of a parabolic fly-by. I will discuss the results of parameter estimation with these waveforms for binary black holes, and the inclusion of tidal effects for binary neutron stars.

We have tentative evidence of massive stars that disappear without a bright transient. It is commonly argued that this massive stars have low angular momentum and can collapse into a black hole without significant feedback. In this talk I will make use of general-relativistic hydrodynamical simulations to understand the flow around a newly-formed black hole. I will discuss the angular momentum needed in order for the infalling material to be accreted into the black hole without forming a centrifugally supported structure, thus generating no effective feedback. If the feedback from the black hole is significant, the collapse can be halted and, as a result, it is likely followed by a bright transient. With the results from the simulation, I will constrain the maximum rotation rate for the disappearing massive progenitors know, and set a limit on the rate of expected disappearing stars.

Millisecond Pulsars (MSPs) have become reliable and
extremely stable workhorses of modern astronomy and physics.  The
North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves, or
NANOGrav, has been observing growing numbers of these systems for over
15 years, and the data look great.  High precision timing of almost 80
MSPs has provided unprecedented sensitivity to the gravitational wave
Universe at nHz-frequencies, where our upper limits are already
constraining the population of super-massive black hole binaries.  But
our sensitivity is increasing each year as we continue to add MSPs to
our timing array and develop new techniques to remove systematics due
to the interstellar medium and the uncertain solar system ephemerides.
Meanwhile, though, our observations provide a wide variety of
astrophysics, such as new neutron star mass measurements and
constraints of the dense matter equation of state.