Gravitational waves are believed to be able to “kick” black hole merger remnants out of their host galaxy. We can search for signatures of that kick directly in gravitational wave signals.
What are the implications of the historic detection of binary neutron star merger GW170817 for the gravitational wave stochastic background?
The model in this paper gives us insight into the precise way the final black hole spin relates to properties of the individual black holes. Image Source: SXS Gravitational lensing
If a low-frequency gravitational wave detector, like LISA, existed 5 years ago, we would have been able to predict that LIGO would detect a binary merger on September 14, 2015 at 09:50:45 plus or minus a few seconds.
Giant stars live only a short time, but have a profound effect on the galaxies that host them. Investigating them doesn’t require them to be brought back from the dead however, as today’s paper shows.
Now that gravitational waves have been directly detected, we can begin to use binary black hole mergers to probe strange consequences of strong-field general relativity. Today’s post examines the prospect of detecting an effect called gravitational-wave memory, and considers its potential for helping you get in shape for summer.