Janna Levin, Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Barnard College
Black hole pairs are promising contenders for a first direct detection by gravitational-wave observatories. In anticipation of a prolific observational future, we describe a multi-messenger portrait of black hole binaries that are both loud in gravitational waves and bright in electromagnetic waves. We describe a novel mechanism to generate electromagnetic luminosities powered by a black hole battery in an astrophysical circuit with a neutron-star magnet. Additionally in dense galactic nuclei, relativistic scattering leads to the formation of highly eccentric pairs that can produce loud gravitational bursts with potentially bright counterparts in electromagnetic bursts.