The Lifecycle of Stellar Black Holes

Coordinators: Maya Fishbach, Jessica Lu, Selma de Mink, and Tejaswi Venumadhav

Gravitational wave detections are revolutionizing our knowledge of the stellar mass black hole population. Gaia is unveiling a new population of dormant black holes in detached binaries with stellar companions. Microlensing probes isolated black holes that are otherwise unobservable. Time domain surveys are searching for transients marking the birth of black holes or their interactions with their stellar companion. Together, these detections are revealing a new population that complements the accreting black holes long known from X-ray and radio surveys.

These new data compel us to assess our understanding of the lifecycle of stellar black holes: the complicated lives of their massive star progenitors, the collapse of their cores and the associated transients, their afterlives as dormant or accreting black holes, and their possible finale as gravitational wave sources when they merge. We will bring together a broad community to review the most recent findings, and develop new observational and theoretical strategies to answer urgent questions on the lifecycle of stellar black holes.

This conference is allowing submissions of the following types:

  • Posters
  • Contributed talks

The priority submission deadline is September 15th, 2025.

2025

Monday, Nov 17, 2025

  • 08:50AM Fred Kavli Auditorium (Main)

     
    • 08:50AM Lars Bildsten (KITP) Welcome
    • 09:00AM Aditya Vijaykumar (CITA) The latest population of merging compact binaries
    • 09:45AM Smadar Naoz (UCLA) The Triple Connection: Black Hole Mergers, EM Counterparts, and Galactic Black Holes
  • 10:30AM MORNING BREAK Gurley Courtyard

     
  • 11:00AM Fred Kavli Auditorium (Main)

     
    • 11:00AM Giuliano Iorio (Univ. of Barcelona) Are Models Over-predicting Binary Black Hole Mergers?
    • 11:15AM Sasha Levina (UCSD) Connecting cosmological simulations to gravitational waves: Impact of the star formation history on the binary black hole merger population
    • 11:30AM Aryanna Schiebelbein (CITA) From Collapse to Collision: Inferring the Formation Rate of Merging Black Holes from Gravitational Waves
    • 11:45AM Jakob Stegmann (MPA) The tip of the iceberg - Unveiling the origin of NSBH mergers through eccentric outliers
    • 12:00PM Neev Shah (Arizona) Two birds with one stone: Forming highly asymmetric mass-ratio Galactic X-ray binaries and gravitational wave events
    • 12:15PM Discussion session
  • 12:30PM LUNCH BREAK Gurley Courtyard

     
  • 02:00PM Fred Kavli Auditorium (Main)

     
    • 02:00PM Lieke Van Son (Radboud Univ.) Linking binary black hole sub-populations to formation channels
    • 02:45PM Adam Burrows (Princeton) The Theory of Core-Collapse Supernova Explosions
  • 03:30PM AFTERNOON BREAK Gurley Courtyard

     
  • 04:00PM Fred Kavli Auditorium (Main)

     
    • 04:00PM Thomas Maccarone (Texas Tech) Symbiotic Black Hole X-ray Binaries
    • 04:45PM Salvatore Vitale (MIT) TBA
  • 05:30PM SHUTTLE TO BWSCI Gurley Courtyard

     

2025

Monday, Nov 17, 2025

  • 08:50AM Fred Kavli Auditorium (Main)

     
    • 08:50AM Lars Bildsten (KITP) Welcome
    • 09:00AM Aditya Vijaykumar (CITA) The latest population of merging compact binaries
    • 09:45AM Smadar Naoz (UCLA) The Triple Connection: Black Hole Mergers, EM Counterparts, and Galactic Black Holes
  • 10:30AM MORNING BREAK Gurley Courtyard

     
  • 11:00AM Fred Kavli Auditorium (Main)

     
    • 11:00AM Giuliano Iorio (Univ. of Barcelona) Are Models Over-predicting Binary Black Hole Mergers?
    • 11:15AM Sasha Levina (UCSD) Connecting cosmological simulations to gravitational waves: Impact of the star formation history on the binary black hole merger population
    • 11:30AM Aryanna Schiebelbein (CITA) From Collapse to Collision: Inferring the Formation Rate of Merging Black Holes from Gravitational Waves
    • 11:45AM Jakob Stegmann (MPA) The tip of the iceberg - Unveiling the origin of NSBH mergers through eccentric outliers
    • 12:00PM Neev Shah (Arizona) Two birds with one stone: Forming highly asymmetric mass-ratio Galactic X-ray binaries and gravitational wave events
    • 12:15PM Discussion session
  • 12:30PM LUNCH BREAK Gurley Courtyard

     
  • 02:00PM Fred Kavli Auditorium (Main)

     
    • 02:00PM Lieke Van Son (Radboud Univ.) Linking binary black hole sub-populations to formation channels
    • 02:45PM Adam Burrows (Princeton) The Theory of Core-Collapse Supernova Explosions
  • 03:30PM AFTERNOON BREAK Gurley Courtyard

     
  • 04:00PM Fred Kavli Auditorium (Main)

     
    • 04:00PM Thomas Maccarone (Texas Tech) Symbiotic Black Hole X-ray Binaries
    • 04:45PM Salvatore Vitale (MIT) TBA
  • 05:30PM SHUTTLE TO BWSCI Gurley Courtyard

     

2025

Tuesday, Nov 18, 2025

  • 09:00AM Fred Kavli Auditorium (Main)

     
    • 09:00AM Ylva Gotberg (IST Austria) TBA
    • 09:45AM Kishalay De (Columbia) TBA
  • 10:30AM MORNING BREAK Gurley Courtyard

     
  • 11:00AM Fred Kavli Auditorium (Main)

     
    • 11:00AM Pranav Nagarajan (Caltech) A Spectroscopic Search for Dormant Black Holes in Low-Metallicity Binaries
    • 11:15AM Ben Pennell (MPI-A) Modelling the population of compact binaries in our Galaxy using Gaia astrometry
    • 11:30AM Johanna Müller Horn (MPI-A) Hunting for Dormant Black Holes with Gaia DR3
    • 11:45AM Kunal Deshmukh (KU Leuven) Halfway to binary black holes: A census of O+BH binaries in 30 Doradus
    • 12:00PM Luzian Seeburger (MPI-A) A Detailed analysis of a sample of black hole impostoring post mass-transfer binaries
    • 12:15PM Discussion session
  • 12:30PM LUNCH BREAK Gurley Courtyard

     
  • 02:00PM Fred Kavli Auditorium (Main)

     
    • 02:00PM Tomer Shenar (Tel Aviv Univ.) TBA
    • 02:45PM Daniel Marín Pina (Univ. of Barcelona) The dynamical origin of Gaia BH3
  • 03:30PM AFTERNOON BREAK Gurley Courtyard

     
  • 04:00PM Fred Kavli Auditorium (Main)

     
    • 04:00PM Hugues Sana (KU Leuven) TBA
    • 04:45PM Jorick Vink (Armagh Observatory) Black Holes at high and low metallicity
  • 05:30PM RECEPTION Gurley Courtyard

     
  • 06:00PM SPECIAL EVENTS DINNER Gurley Courtyard

     
  • 07:30PM SHUTTLE TO BWSCI Gurley Courtyard

     

2025

Wednesday, Nov 19, 2025

  • 09:00AM Fred Kavli Auditorium (Main)

     
    • 09:00AM Johan Samsing (Niels Bohr International Academy - Niels Bohr Institute) TBA
    • 09:45AM Sukanya Chakrabarti (UAH) From Gaia's stellar mass black holes to a possible primordial black hole in the Galaxy
  • 10:30AM MORNING BREAK Gurley Courtyard

     
  • 11:00AM Fred Kavli Auditorium (Main)

     
    • 11:00AM Thibault Lechien (MPA) Evidence for efficient mass transfer in interacting binary systems: Implications for compact object formation
    • 11:15AM Dandan Wei (IST Austria) Challenges to the Classical Treatment of Massive Binary Interactions from Observed Stripped Stars in Binaries
    • 11:30AM Cheyanne Shariat (Caltech) Triple Evolution Pathways to Black Hole Low-mass X-Ray Binaries
    • 11:45AM Debasish Dutta (IST Austria) The role of winds in the evolution of binary-stripped stars and their companions: first wind mass loss measurements
    • 12:00PM Aldana Grichener (Univ. of Arizona/Steward Observatory) Modeling Massive Stars with Machine Learning: Pathways to Supernovae and Black Hole formation
    • 12:15PM Discussion session
  • 12:30PM LUNCH BREAK Gurley Courtyard

     
  • 02:00PM Fred Kavli Auditorium (Main)

     
    • 02:00PM Kyle Kremer (UCSD) Simulations and Observations of Black Holes in Globular Clusters
    • 02:45PM Sara Rastello (ICC Univ. Barcelona) Star-Black Hole Interactions in Young Star Clusters
  • 03:30PM AFTERNOON BREAK Gurley Courtyard

     
  • 04:00PM Fred Kavli Auditorium (Main)

     
    • 04:00PM Jakub Klencki (MPA) The many final fates of stellar black hole systems
    • 04:45PM Peter Mc Gill (LLNL) Isolated Black Holes: The New Astrometric Microlensing Frontier with Roman
  • 05:30PM RECEPTION Gurley Courtyard

     
  • 06:00PM SPECIAL EVENTS DINNER Gurley Courtyard

     
  • 07:30PM SHUTTLE TO BWSCI Gurley Courtyard

     

2025

Thursday, Nov 20, 2025

  • 09:00AM Fred Kavli Auditorium (Main)

     
    • 09:00AM Jessica Lu (UCB / LBNL) Isolated Black Holes in the Milky Way
    • 09:45AM Maude Gull (Carnegie Observatories) Metal-poor Massive Binaries In the Local Group
  • 10:30AM MORNING BREAK Gurley Courtyard

     
  • 11:00AM Fred Kavli Auditorium (Main)

     
    • 11:00AM Casey Lam (Carnegie Observatories) Finding and characterizing isolated black holes with microlensing
    • 11:15AM Fulya Kiroglu (Northwestern) Spins as Tracers of Black Hole Growth in Young Star Clusters
    • 11:30AM Yixian Chen (Princeton) Formation of sub-solar neutron stars in collapsar disks around stellar-mass Black Holes
    • 11:45AM Linhao Ma (KITP) Spins of BBHs born from post-stable-mass-transfer binaries
    • 12:00PM Silvia Anastasia Popa (MPA) Very Massive, Rapidly Spinning Binary Black Hole Progenitors through Chemically Homogeneous Evolution -- The Case of GW231123
    • 12:15PM Discussion session
  • 12:30PM LUNCH BREAK Gurley Courtyard

     
  • 02:00PM Fred Kavli Auditorium (Main)

     
    • 02:00PM Amanda Farah (CITA) TBA
    • 02:45PM Przemyslaw Mroz (Univ. of Warsaw) Toward the mass function of black holes with modern observations of microlensing events
  • 03:30PM AFTERNOON BREAK Gurley Courtyard

     
  • 04:00PM Fred Kavli Auditorium (Main)

     
    • 04:00PM Hans-Walter Rix (MPI-A) After Gaia DR4: Population Modelling of Galactic Black Holes
    • 04:45PM Vicky Kalogera (Northwestern) TBA
  • 05:30PM SHUTTLE TO BWSCI *Also available to SB Airport and SB Airbus, Goleta location. (See Registration Desk BEFORE THURSDAY to sign up.) Gurley Courtyard

     

2025

Friday, Nov 21, 2025

No talks scheduled.

2025

Saturday, Nov 22, 2025

No talks scheduled.

2025

Sunday, Nov 23, 2025

No talks scheduled.