A synthetic model of the gravitational wave background from evolving binary compact objects

Understand

Modeling the stochastic gravitational wave background from various astrophysical sources is a key objective in view of upcoming observations with ground- and space-based gravitational wave observatories such as Advanced LIGO, VIRGO, eLISA and PTA.

• We develop a synthetic model framework that follows the evolution of single and binary compact objects in an astrophysical context.
• We describe the formation and merger rates of binaries, the evolution of their orbital parameters with time and the spectrum of emitted gravitational waves at different stages of binary evolution.
• Our approach is modular and allows us to test and constrain different ingredients of the model, including stellar evolution, black hole formation scenarios and the properties of binary systems.