Binaries as Sources of Gravitational Waves

Understand

With the discovery of both binary black hole mergers and a binary neutron star merger the field of Gravitational Wave Astrophysics has really begun.

• The current advanced LIGO and Virgo detectors are laser interferometers that will improve their sensitivity in the coming years.
• In the long run, new detectors such as LISA and the Einstein Telescope will have sensitivities that allow the detection of many thousands of sources and ET can observe essentially the whole observable Universe, for heavy black holes.
• All these measurements will provide new answers to open questions in binary evolution, related to mass transfer, out-of-equilibrium stars and the role of metallicity.