From black holes to the Big Bang: Astrophysics and Cosmology with gravitational waves and their electromagnetic counterparts

The growing catalog of gravitational-wave signals from compact object mergers has allowed us to study the properties of black holes and neutron stars more precisely than ever before and has opened a new window through which to probe the earliest moments in our universe’s history. Population-level measurements of the masses and spins of compact objects can reveal how these systems form and evolve. Multi-messenger observations of compact object mergers can shed light on the properties of the electromagnetic counterparts of these systems, such as short gamma-ray bursts and kilonovae. Finally, observations of the stochastic gravitational-wave background can constrain early-universe physics inaccessible with other means. In this talk, I will present highlights from my thesis work demonstrating how we can leverage such observations of gravitational waves and their electromagnetic counterparts to learn about astrophysics and cosmology.

Committee:   Salvatore Vitale (LIGO Chair)                                                                                                                  via Zoom

Best of luck to Sylvia!