Topics
The list below is a wish list of topics to be covered in this course. Each subject listed here is very rich and can be the topic of a dedicated course. The aim of this particular course is to give an overview. [link placeholder]
Part 1: Introduction and Motivation (~2 weeks)
Scope and spirit of the course
The gravitational wave frequency landscape. Detectors and their bandpasses.
Objects detectable in each band and fundamental considerations (orbital decay, GW frequencies and orbital decay times for different families of sources)
Gravitational wave signals in the strain-frequency diagram
Part 2: General Relativity and Gravitational Waves
Particle dynamics in fixed spacetimes: Minkowski, Schwarzschild, and Kerr
Dynamical spacetime: Tolmann-Oppenheimer-Volkoff equations, post-Minkowski approximation
Linearized gravity and gravitational waves, gravitational waves at leading order: quadrupole formula
Newtonian 2-body problem (Conic Section orbits) and the restricted 3-body problem (prelude to accretion and binary evolution)
Part 3: Astrophysics of Gravitational Wave Sources: Stellar and Supermassive Binaries
Fast and furious overview of stellar evolution, extra processes that affect binary evolution
Evolution of massive binary stars leading to binaries with at least one black hole or neutron star (properties of systems known from EM and GW observations)
Evolution of low-mass stars leading to binaries with at least one white dwarf (properties of systems known from EM observations)
Galaxy evolution via mergers leading to binary supermassive black holes.
Evolution of a fiducial supermassive binary.
Predictions of source distribution and constraints from the GW background.