Can we identify the host galaxies of LISA sources?
The upcoming LISA mission promises to detect many gravitational wave events, but can it attribute any of them to a host galaxy? Let’s find out!
What’s all that racket? Or: what’s behind the Gravitational Wave Background?
In this Astrobite, we look at some of the potential sources of the newly discovered gravitational wave background. Supermassive Black Hole Binary mergers are believed to be the primary culprit, but several other fascinating phenomena could also be contributing.
Dark matter and Neutrinos walk into a (nano)bar(n); can we observe νDM interactions in the CMB?
Today’s Astrobite seeks evidence of hypothetical dark matter – neutrino interactions in the Cosmic Microwave Background, and considers what effects such an interaction would have on the Standard Model.
Cosmic Echolocation: A New Method to Measure Dark Matter with Gravitational Waves
In this astrobite, astrophysicists use gravitational waves to “listen” for the presence of dark matter and infer its properties!
UR: The Atomic Dark Matter Model: A Possible Solution to the Shortcomings of CDM
Could dark matter behave similarly to regular matter? If so, could dark matter halos collapse and form structures, like a black hole? In this work we explore the Atomic Dark Matter Model and predicting structure formation in it using simple algebra. We build on the current literature by showing that for certain values of the variables that govern dark matter interactions, we won’t be able to determine if the halo will be able to collapse using methods to track the dark matter number densities and how efficiently the halo can dispose of its initial energy.
Defining Gravity: Can Wide Binaries be a Definitive Test of Modified Newtonian Gravity Theories?
Today’s paper posits that precise observations of wide binaries can be used, in conjunction with simulations, to test the validity of modified gravity theories!