GW190521 - Discovery of Black Holes that Should Not Exist
PIRSA ID:
20100010
Series:
Cosmology and Gravitation
Event Type:
Seminar
Scientific Area(s):
Cosmology
End date:
Speaker(s):
- Karan Jani, Pennsylvania State University
The new gravitational-wave signal GW190521in LIGO and Virgo marks the first observational detection of the elusive intermediate-mass black holes. The detection also confirms there exist a new class of black holes in the mass gap predicted by the pair-instability supernovae theory. In this talk, I will discuss the process that went behind inferring the astrophysical properties of this historic discovery. I would briefly address the alternative scenarios we looked into for a possible exotic origin of this signal, including any violation of General Relativity. For the upcoming ESA/NASA space mission LISA, I would highlight how this discovery opens a unique epoch of multi-band, multi-messenger astronomy.