New Physics and the Black Hole Mass Gap
Dr. Sam McDermott
Schramm Fellow, Theoretical Astrophysics Group
Fermilab
The LIGO/Virgo collaboration has recently announced the detection of GW190521: a heavy binary black hole merger with component masses in the “black hole mass gap,” which cannot be explained by standard stellar structure theory. In this talk, I will discuss how new light particles that couple to the Standard Model can act as an additional source of energy loss in the cores of population-III stars, dramatically altering their evolution and potentially explaining GW190521. I will also demonstrate how new population catalogs can help distinguish different scenarios for the origin of mass-gap objects. The black hole mass gap will emerge as a powerful tool for studying beyond the Standard Model particle physics.
Hosted by Prof. Tsai
All interested persons are invited to attend remotely—email physics@nd.edu for information.