Astrophysics with populations of binary black holes

自从2015年STFC资助的激光干涉仪引力波天文台(LIGO)首次直接探测到引力波以来，引力波天文学彻底改变了我们对黑洞双星的理解。在接下来的几年里，引力波观测的数量将会爆炸式增长，对双星黑洞的观测将达到数百次。使用这个快速增长的引力波星表，将有可能推断出种群属性，如黑洞质量和自转在一系列红移中的分布，而与星系星表的相互关联可以推断哈勃常数。该项目的目标是在当前技术和格拉斯哥在引力波分析方面的国际领先专业知识的基础上，构建并应用于双黑洞观测的贝叶斯分层推理方案。利用这些尖端的种群结果，将有可能对目前不确定的双星演化物理以及宇宙演化施加前所未有的限制。这个项目的最终目标将是将我们的引力波观测结果与最新的双星群体合成模型进行比较，以完成对描述演化宇宙中双星演化物理的参数的全面、多维推断，从而揭示跨越宇宙时间的双星黑洞形成的奥秘。

Since the first direct detection of gravitational waves in 2015 by the STFC-funded Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), gravitational-wave astronomy has revolutionised our understanding of black hole binaries. Over the coming years, the population of gravitational wave observations will explode, with hundreds of observations of binary black holes. Using this rapidly growing gravitational-wave catalogue, it will be possible to infer the population properties, such as the distribution of black hole masses and spins across a range of redshifts, while cross-correlation with galaxy catalogues can enable inference of the Hubble constant. This project will aim to construct and apply a Bayesian hierarchical inference scheme to binary black hole observations, building upon both the current techniques and Glasgow's leading international expertise in gravitational-wave analysis. Using these cutting-edge population results, it will be possible to place unprecedented constraints of the currently uncertain physics of binary stellar evolution as well as the evolution of the Universe. The final goal of this project will be to compare our gravitational-wave observations to the latest binary population synthesis models to complete a comprehensive, multidimensional inference of the parameters which describe the physics of binary evolution in an evolving Universe, and hence reveal the mysteries of binary black hole formation across cosmic time.