Topic: LISA

This workshop examines white-dwarf binaries as probes of stellar evolution, Galactic history and explosive transients. Observations and population modelling will address common-envelope evolution, angular-momentum loss, possible Type Ia supernova pathways and compact systems relevant to LISA. Participants will consider how Gaia, wide-field spectroscopy, time-domain surveys and new ESO instruments can constrain these mechanisms and connect binary populations with chemical enrichment and star formation. Registration fees apply.

Quasi-periodic eruptions are repeating X-ray transients from supermassive black holes in nearby low-mass galactic nuclei. Their regularity, timescales and energetics suggest stellar companions orbiting at about 100 gravitational radii. They may provide unusually close dynamical probes of black holes and electromagnetic counterparts to extreme mass-ratio inspirals, a target for future space-based gravitational-wave observatories such as LISA. Joheen Chakraborty reviews the thirteen known systems, including the unexpected appearance of several in accretion discs created by tidal disruption even

Black holes in theories with a preferred frame acquire parameters describing their response to motion relative to it. This talk calculates those sensitivities for neutral and charged black holes in Einstein-aether and khronometric gravity. Across much of the parameter space, different cases approach a small common limit. The presentation explains the calculation and considers possible implications for future gravitational-wave measurements, including LISA.

Pratika Dayal examines galaxy and black-hole formation during the first billion years, when the first galaxies ended the cosmic dark ages and began reionizing intergalactic hydrogen. JWST has revealed unexpectedly abundant, massive black holes, reaching about one hundred million solar masses within the first six hundred million years, challenging formation models. These observations can constrain the progress and spatial structure of reionization in preparation for 21-centimeter measurements. Early galaxies also test alternatives to cold dark matter. The talk considers the gravitational-wave e

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.