Institute for Advanced Study/Princeton University Early Universe/Cosmology Lunch Discussion

Abstract: As the event catalog has grown from O(10) to O(100), the field of gravitational-wave astronomy has been rapidly unfolding. We are moving from a phase of initial discovery into an era of population studies. The hope is that these observations help place new constraints on the otherwise elusive lives and deaths of massive stars throughout cosmic history. I will discuss how the first pieces of the gravitational-wave progenitor population puzzle have helped us so far to form a picture of their massive stellar ancestors. Additionally, I will touch upon some of the hopes but also pitfalls of population studies and discuss why the coming decades will be particularly exciting.