When, where, and how compact binaries form is still a mystery, and observations from the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA detectors are starting to shed light on this. In this talk, I will discuss ways of probing host environments of these binaries. I will show how the redshift evolution of the binary black hole merger rate can be used to constrain the parameter space of the host galaxies of such mergers. I will also discuss how incorrect assumptions on the nature of host galaxies can bias the inference of cosmological parameters. Time permitting, I will show some recent results on a research program I started while at ICTS—that of probing host environments using signatures of the binary centre-of-mass kinematics on the gravitational wave signal.
Zoom Link: https://icts-res-in.zoom.us/j/93966798100?pwd=9okRVsjiQz9qYEwHkWn0j9WpzBXtuz.1
Meeting ID: 939 6679 8100
Passcode: 454704