Decoding the Population of Gravitational Wave Sources
Name
heinzel-heinzelj-phd-physics-2026-thesis.pdf
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22.2 MB
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Checksum (MD5)
eb4b7a3e959709e6b1e0e14c168ff52d
Author(s)
Heinzel, Jack H.
Advisor(s)
Vitale, Salvatore
Date Issued
May 2026
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
The field of gravitational wave astronomy is rapidly developing, and offers an unprecedented perspective on the formation of astrophysical black holes. In this thesis, we use modern inference techniques to explore the population of binary black hole mergers observed with gravitational waves. We explore various sources of systematic errors, such as the inclusion of non-astrophysical contaminants or the breakdown of Monte Carlo based approximations, and we develop new tools for accurately characterizing the complex, correlated population. Finally, we close with a tour of the newest results and features appearing in the latest gravitational wave dataset.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
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