Name: Alumni x Academic Committee Talk: Binary Black Holes, Gravitational Waves and ETPathfinder
Start: 2026-04-28T14:00:00+02:00
End: 2026-04-28T15:30:00+02:00
Location: DUB30

Alumni x Academic Committee Talk: Binary Black Holes, Gravitational Waves and ETPathfinder

Tuesday, 28 April 2026 - 14:00

Monday, 27 April 2026
Tuesday, 28 April 2026
14:00 Welcome and Setup - Chris Pawley
Welcome and Setup
- Chris Pawley
14:00 - 14:10
Room: ETPathfinder Visitor Gallery Teams Link: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/364525425216790?p=Zbe22gJoYAbSiRKwDX
14:10 Kai Hendriks: Probing the formation of binary black holes with the Einstein Telescope - Kai Hendriks
Kai Hendriks: Probing the formation of binary black holes with the Einstein Telescope
- Kai Hendriks
14:10 - 14:40
Room: ETPathfinder Visitor Gallery A major unsolved question in astrophysics is how merging binary black holes (BBHs) form. Different formation mechanisms have been proposed, but disentangling them from gravitational wave (GW) observations has proven dificult. In this talk, I propose a novel method of probing BBH formation by studying how the surrounding environment of a BBH directly influences the observed GW signal. Specifically, I will talk about BBHs in star clusters that form through interactions with a third BH. The centre-of-mass motion of the BBH around the third BH induces a phase shift onto the GW signal, which, if observed, would allow us to directly constrain the formation environment of the BBH. I will discuss our model of the phase shift, and its detectability prospects in the Einstein Telescope (ET) era. Will ET be able to observe this phase shift and what could that teach us about the astrophysical formation of BBHs?
14:40 Brecht Slootmaekers: - Brecht Slootmaekers (Maastricht University & Nikhef)
Brecht Slootmaekers:
- Brecht Slootmaekers (Maastricht University & Nikhef)
14:40 - 15:10
Room: ETPathfinder Visitor Gallery
15:10 Q+A Session - Gideon Koekoek (Maastricht University) Gideon Koekoek
Q+A Session
- Gideon Koekoek (Maastricht University)
- Gideon Koekoek
15:10 - 15:30
Room: ETPathfinder Visitor Gallery Moderated Q+A by Gideon with Speakers