The LIGO/Virgo detections of gravitational waves from merging massive black holes
suggest progenitor stars of low metallicity. In this talk I will provide constraints on the formation of the stellar progenitors based on advanced models of galaxy formation and evolution
combined with binary population synthesis models. First I will combine
estimates of galaxy properties (star-forming gas...
We have strong evidence that super massive black holes reside in most galaxies. Galaxies have also been observed to merge, consequently the central black holes should also form a binary and eventually merge. These super massive black hole binaries (SMBHBs) emit gravitational waves (GWs) as they spiral into each other. The superposition of all the GWs emitted by the cosmic population of SMBHBs...
The chemical abundance patterns of Milky Way stars allow to trace the nucleosynthetic processes that took place before these stars were born, and in particular, to study the sources of r-process elements. In this talk I will discuss the contribution of binary neutron star mergers to the production of r-process elements, focusing on the effect of the delay time distribution between the...
