Sean T McWilliams (Columbia)

Title: Gravitational Wave Astronomy with Black Hole Binary Mergers

Abstract: With the advent of Advanced LIGO/VIRGO, gravitational wave science will transition from a specialty of theoretical physics to a specialty of observational astronomy. To fully take advantage of second and third generation instruments capable of precision gravitational wave measurement, we require a detailed understanding of the anticipated gravitational wave and electromagnetic signatures. To this end, I will discuss recent work in modeling gravitational waves from black hole binary mergers, their application to measuring source parameters, and some potential electromagnetic signatures that may accompany these events. I will also discuss the potential for constraining dark energy through coincident GW/EM measurements, and the outstanding issues that must be solved to maximize the achievable science from these observations.