Speaker : T. Hinderer

Title : Modeling the gravitational waves from neutron star-black hole binaries

Abstract : Neutron star — black hole binaries are among the most interesting sources for LIGO and electromagnetic counterparts. Extracting the unique information contained in their gravitational wave signals requires a detailed understanding and description of several physical effects. These include the dynamics of bodies with unequal masses and spins, tidal distortions of the neutron star, the possible tidal disruption of the neutron star and the resulting imprints on the gravitational wave signal. I will describe recent progress on this topic within the Effective One-Body approach which combines strong-field information from the test-particle limit with information from post-Newtonian theory and also from numerical relativity. In particular, I will discuss the inclusion of an approximate description of dynamical tidal effects during the inspiral in this model and modifications to the merger waveforms to account for varying degrees of tidal disruption. I will also summarize the physical insights gained by comparing the model to numerical relativity waveforms and considering toy examples, and discuss aspects requiring further work.