2019/03/26 by K. E. Saavik Ford, Ford, K. E. Saavik, Federico Fraschetti +16 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #FOS: Physical sciences #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE) #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #astro-ph.HE
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1903.11116
A science white paper submitted to Astro2020; this version with additional endorsers and a few small additions to the text
arxiv created 2019/03/26 · openalex publication_date 2019/03/26 · arxiv updated 2019/03/28 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The conventional view of stellar-mass binary black hole (sBBH) mergers is that there should not be enough matter present to produce a detectable electromagnetic transient. However, there ARE a number of mechanisms for producing such a counterpart through accretion of matter from various reserves, charged black holes, or interactions with magnetic or exotic fields. After reviewing these mechanisms, we describe what we can learn from multi-messenger observations of sBBH mergers in the areas of stellar evolution and compact binary formation, cosmological measurements, searches for charged black holes, and tests of general relativity and fundamental physics. We end with some remarks about the need to support both observing capabilities and modeling in the next decade and beyond.