# Collaborative Research: One Step Back and Two Steps Forward: Understanding Gravitational Wave Progenitors by Leveraging Binary Stars in the Local Universe

> **NSF 01002526DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT** · Carnegie Mellon University (PA) · $390,977

## Abstract

Although gravitational wave (GW) instruments have been detecting the mergers of two compact objects (either black holes or neutron stars) for nearly a decade, there is still uncertainty about how these binary systems form and develop over time. A research collaboration between Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and the University of Arizona (UA) will investigate the formation of merging double compact objects by combining state-of-the-art population synthesis tools, used to model large populations of stellar objects, with detailed modelling of binary system development.  The project will also support science teacher training programs at both universities: the Physics Teacher Program to connect high school physics teachers with CMU researchers, and the UA University Borderlands Education Center to create workshops that empower high school teachers to use research products in their classrooms.

The use of binary population synthesis and detailed binary development modeling has been widely applied to understanding how isolated binary star populations can produce merging double compact objects. However, the assumptions usually made in population synthesis are unable to resolve the effects of the interior structural development of each stellar component in a given binary. This project will unite these previously disparate efforts through a new technique, BackPop, which simulates joint posterior distributions for uncertain binary interaction parameters that reproduce the observed p

## Key facts

- **NSF award ID:** 2510583
- **Awardee organization:** Carnegie Mellon University (PA)
- **SAM.gov UEI:** U3NKNFLNQ613
- **PI:** Katelyn Breivik
- **Primary program:** 01002526DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
- **All programs:** Windows on the Universe (WoU), THEORETICAL & COMPUTATIONAL ASTROPHYSICS, OBSERVATIONAL ASTRONOMY
- **Estimated total:** $390,977
- **Funds obligated:** $390,977
- **Transaction type:** Standard Grant
- **Period:** 09/01/2025 → 08/31/2028

## Primary source

NSF Award Search: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2510583

## Citation

> US National Science Foundation, Award 2510583, Collaborative Research: One Step Back and Two Steps Forward: Understanding Gravitational Wave Progenitors by Leveraging Binary Stars in the Local Universe. Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-07 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nsf/2510583. Licensed CC0.

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