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This seminar explores how circumbinary disk dynamics influence astrophysical binary populations, presented by Magdalena Siwek from Columbia University. Discover compelling evidence from Pulsar Timing Arrays (PTAs) for a Gravitational Wave Background (GWB) produced by Massive Black Hole Binaries (MBHBs). Learn how circumbinary accretion disks (CBDs) in gas-rich galactic nuclei interact with MBHBs, increasing the amplitude of the GWB while having minimal effect on orbital expansion. Examine how CBD-induced mass ratio evolution and the 'eccentricity attractor' create distinctive signatures in MBHB populations—signatures already detected in stellar binaries. Explore how accretion from CBDs may enable multi-messenger detection through electromagnetic follow-up, with preliminary models showing diverse electromagnetic signatures emitted by MBHBs in CBDs.
