HEP department seminar by Badri Krishnan

Monday 23 May 2022, 12:30 → 13:30 Europe/Amsterdam

HG02.802

TITLE:  The simplicity of binary black hole mergers             

Abstract: before the first successful numerical simulations of binary black hole mergers in 2005, it was considered plausible that the gravitational wave signal could have complicated modulations and even be chaotic. After all, general relativity is a non-linear theory and these non-linearities are especially important near the merger. However, the reality is that the signals are so far seen to be rather simple. This does not mean that the signals are trivial, rather that the complications due to e.g. precession, eccentricity etc. are contained in the deviations from a simple underlying model. In this talk, I will propose a reason for this simplicity based on the framework of "singularity theory" developed by Arnold, Zeeman and Thom in the 1960s. We shall see that binary black hole mergers are similar to other common observed physical
phenomena such as caustics and rainbows in optics, and this theory provides hints for deeper mathematical structures in binary black hole dynamics

HEP seminar Badri Krishnan 23-05-2022.pdf