A New Paradigm for Black Hole Binary Mergers
Name of applicant
Martin Pessah
Title
Professor
Institution
University of Copenhagen
Amount
DKK 12,961,710
Year
2025
Type of grant
Semper Ardens: Accomplish
What?
My Semper Ardens research project addresses a most burning question in the new field of gravitational wave astrophysics. What is the astrophysical origin of gravitational waves from merging black holes? I will investigate the merger of black hole binaries in turbulent, magnetized disks surrounding supermassive black holes, a time when the detection of gravitational waves is rapidly increasing.
Why?
Understanding the astrophysical sites where black hole binaries assemble and coalesce is the most burning question in the new field of gravitational wave astrophysics. However, it is being addressed using models that ignore the turbulent nature of disks around supermassive black holes. My Semper Ardens research program will lead to a new paradigm accounting for this crucial piece of physics.
How?
With my expertise in turbulent disk physics and few-body dynamics in gaseous media, I will bring the physics of magnetic fields and turbulence into the realm of gravitational wave astrophysics of black hole pairs evolving in disks. My goal is to change the way we model black hole binaries in disks around supermassive black holes as precursors for gravitational-wave mergers.