Erlangen 2026 – wissenschaftliches Programm
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GR: Fachverband Gravitation, Relativistische Astrophysik und Kosmologie
GR 2: Gravitational Waves I
GR 2.3: Vortrag
Montag, 16. März 2026, 16:45–17:00, KH 01.016
Astrophysical insights from hierarchical black hole mergers in the era of next-generation detectors — •Angela Borchers1,2 and Frank Ohme1,2 — 1Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute), Hannover, Germany — 2Leibniz Universität Hannover, Hannover, Germany
Black-hole binaries can form through a variety of astrophysical pathways, each leaving distinct imprints on their observable properties. One such pathway is the hierarchical formation of black holes through repeated mergers, which produces black holes with characteristic spin signatures. These spins carry information about both the escape velocity of the host environment and the spins of first-generation black holes. Currently, however, observations of binary black hole mergers by the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Collaborations typically have spin measurements with substantial uncertainties, limiting our ability to extract this information. The improved sensitivities of next-generation gravitational-wave detectors, such as the Einstein Telescope and Cosmic Explorer, will enable the observation of many more mergers and provide significantly more precise measurements of binary parameters, including spins. In this talk, I will present simulations of mock observations for Einstein Telescope based on the population properties inferred from the latest gravitational-wave catalog, GWTC-4, and discuss whether spin measurements from next-generation detectors can be used to gain insight into the astrophysical environments and merger histories of binary black holes.
Keywords: Black-hole binaries; Hierarchical mergers; Next-generation gravitational-wave detectors; Gravitational-wave observations