Investigating the Evolution of Compact Object Populations

Abstract

The population of compact objects both Galactic and extragalactic can now be studied and verified observationally with increasing efficiency, the latter thanks to the detection of compact object mergers through gravitational waves. The formation channels of merging compact object binaries are, however, not yet fully understood, and may even vary over cosmic time. We address this problem with a population synthesis approach, including BOSSA, a new initial sampling code, to deal with the variation of initial conditions and evaluate its consequences.