Speaker
Lisa Drummond
(MIT)
Description
Accurate models of large mass-ratio black hole binary systems must include post-geodesic corrections which account for forces driving the small body away from the geodesic. One such effect is called the spin-curvature force which occurs when the secondary spin associated with the smaller black hole couples to the curvature of the background spacetime. In recent years, considerable progress has been made in quantifying the effect of secondary spin on gravitational waves in asymmetric binaries. In this talk, I will review the principles governing spinning bodies in curved space time, outline progress that has been made in the domain of secondary spin corrections in recent years and discuss remaining open questions in the field.
