PhD Studentship: Source Modelling and Compact Binaries

Compact binaries, consisting of pairs of black holes or neutron stars, are extremely powerful sources of gravitational radiation. Vital information on the physics that drives the coalescence of these binaries is directly encoded in the gravitational-wave signal. By decoding this information, we can obtain crucial knowledge on the origin and evolution of astrophysical black holes and neutron stars throughout the Universe. Our ability to extract this information requires developing new and increasingly sophisticated theoretical models for the gravitational-wave signal.

This PhD project will aim to tackle key questions in gravitational-wave astronomy and fundamental physics. Research topics include: the analytical modelling of gravitational dynamics and radiation, numerical relativity simulations of compact binaries, acceleration techniques for gravitational-wave data analysis, testing fundamental physics in the strong-field regime, modelling neutron star mergers, and exploring our understanding of the neutron star equation of state. Applicants will be strongly encouraged to join the LIGO Scientific Collaboration and be given the opportunity to work directly with gravitational-wave data and to play a role in the gravitational-wave discoveries made by the LIGO detector.

The project will be supervised by Dr Geraint Pratten (g.pratten@bham.ac.uk).

For more information on postgraduate research at the University of Birmingham please visit https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/research and http://www.sr.bham.ac.uk/phd/index.php for details on eligibility and entrance requirements.

Funding Details

Additional Funding Information

This is a funded project for UK student

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