Astro/GEI Seminar
Yet another gap? Mapping stellar structure to merging binary black holes
Speaker: Shanika Achini Galaudage (Northwestern University)
Date: Wednesday 22 April 2026
Time: 14:00
Venue: N3.28
Gravitational-wave observations are giving us a new way to study how black holes form. As the catalogue of detected binary black hole mergers grows, their mass distribution reveals emerging structures, such as potential peaks and gaps that may indicate distinct astrophysical origins. One hypothesis suggests that the internal structure of massive stars leads to a lack of black holes within the 10-15 solar mass range, creating a gap in the merging population. In this talk, I will first present an overview of the insights gravitational-wave observations can provide about black hole formation. I will then examine the proposed compactness gap, evaluate whether current observations support its existence, and consider alternative formation channels that could obscure or fill this feature.