Topic: Gravitational waves

Three-year research positions allowing early-career astrophysicists to develop an independent programme while collaborating with MPA researchers. Areas include stars and stellar systems, supernovae, gravitational waves, galaxy formation, black holes and cosmology. Fellows have access to computing facilities and support for scientific travel. Gross annual salary is stated as approximately EUR 67,500–77,700 depending on experience, with public-service benefits. Apply by 15 November 2026 with a CV, publication list, research statement and three referees; reference letters are due on the same date

Vitor Cardoso discusses how observations and theory are changing black-hole physics. The conversation covers Hawking radiation, general relativity, gravitational-wave observations and the Event Horizon Telescope, asking what these measurements reveal about black holes and what future observatories could test.

Anna Tsai studies how precise pulsar distances can improve localization of individual gravitational-wave sources with pulsar timing arrays. A coherent map-making method uses distance information to approach the diffraction limit, potentially reaching angular precision of about two arcminutes and enabling electromagnetic counterpart searches. At a signal-to-noise ratio of ten, approximately nine pulsars can reach this limit. The resolution improves sharply as more well-timed pulsars have accurately known distances. Since the distance of PSR J0437−4715 is already measured to subparsec precision,

Cole, Cormac and new host Sanika discuss gravitational-wave astrophysics: neutron-star and black-hole mergers, LIGO and Virgo observations, and future detectors including LISA. The conversation introduces both the scientific signals and the research questions driving the field.