Gravitational Wave Paleontology: Understanding Black Hole and Neutron Star Mergers in the Big Data Era

Explore an in-depth lecture on gravitational-wave astronomy presented by Floor Broekgaarden from Harvard/CfA, focusing on using the growing population of merging black holes and neutron stars to understand stellar evolution. Delve into the complexities of evolutionary pathways, examining key uncertainties in astrophysical modeling through population synthesis simulations. Learn about various aspects including merger rates, supernova models, binary systems, formation channels, and computational challenges. Discover how normalizing flows and improved stellar evolution codes contribute to the field, while understanding the importance of uncertainty quantification in gravitational-wave paleontology. Through this 46-minute presentation, gain insights into current research efforts, methodological challenges, and future directions in the era of big data gravitational-wave astronomy.