Gravity Seminar: Nicola Gaspari
Title: Kicks and mergers of binary neutron stars
Abstract: Neutron stars, black holes, and the compact binaries they dwell in, can experience an impulsive change of velocity (a velocity kick) at some point in their evolution. The compact remnants born in supernovae for instance are kicked by asymmetric explosions, while the remnants of binary black hole mergers can recoil due to the anisotropic emission of gravitational waves. As a result of the kick, the galactic trajectories of these objects change and their kinematics results distinct from that of the progenitors, to the point that some might even unbound from the host galaxy. In this talk I will illustrate the impact of kicks on kinematics bringing binary neutron stars (BNSs) as a case study. I will discuss some recent results on the observed systemic velocities and merger locations of BNSs, both Galactic and in extragalactic transients, and show the implications for observation and interpretation of compact object mergers.