Modeling Black Hole Dynamics in Dense Star Clusters in the Era of LIGO, LISA, and LSST

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Kyle Kremer is awarded an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship to conduct a program of research and education at the California Institute of Technology and the Carnegie Observatories. Over the next few years, the list of gravitational wave (GW) detections from merging black holes (BHs) and neutron stars is expected to grow enormously, and interpreting the properties of these sources requires a detailed understanding of the role of dense star clusters. Forthcoming transient surveys will also provide new constraints on the formation and populations of compact remnants. One important channel, and the focus of this research, is dynamical formation in dense stellar environments like globular clusters (GCs). The Cosmos in Concert program of multimedia shows combining astronomy education and music performance has already successfully presented 16 concerts in 6 states, and will be extended to the southern California area with performances at K-12 schools and universities, and with local symphony orchestras.This is a broad study of the dynamics of BHs in dense star clusters with applications to GW and high-energy astrophysics, covering (i) the rates of massive star collisions and tidal disruption events in realistic GCs; (ii) the dynamical effect of massive BHs on cluster dynamics; (iii) a side-by-side analysis of the differences between compact binary formation in GCs and isolated binary evolution in the galactic field; and (iv) the public release of an extensive database of realistic GC models. The work will significantly aid the development of improved data analysis and detection strategies for next-generation GW observatories and transient surveys. This project advances the goals of the NSF Windows on the Universe Big Idea.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.