Lecture notes on black hole binary astrophysics

Understand

We describe some key astrophysical processes driving the formation and evolution of black hole binaries of different nature, from stellar-mass to supermassive systems.

• In the first part, we focus on the mainstream channels proposed for the formation of stellar mass binaries relevant to ground-based gravitational wave detectors, namely the {\it field} and the {\it dynamical} scenarios.
• For the field scenario, we highlight the relevant steps in the evolution of the binary, including mass transfer, supernovae explosions and kicks, common envelope and gravitational wave emission.
• For the dynamical scenario, we describe the main physical processes involved in the formation of star clusters and the segregation of black holes in their centres.