Events

Date: 24 September 2026   Time: 14:00 - 15:00

Location: G.O Jones Building Room 610

Title: An Effective S-Matrix Approach to Black Hole Mergers

Abstract:

In this talk, I will propose an effective S-matrix framework for describing low-frequency gravitational waves from black hole mergers. Instead of starting from a Lagrangian and performing its derivative expansion, we directly expand the observable in the low-frequency regime within the KMOC formalism. Organizing this expansion with soft theorems at O(G^2), I will show how the logarithmic tail, the recoil, and the nonlinear memory emerge from the one-loop amplitude and the graviton cut contribution. Finally, I will identify the matching data needed to fully determine the low-frequency waveform.

Reference: arXiv:2609.10329