Zeineb Mezghanni
MIT Department: Physics
Faculty Mentor: Prof. Salvatore Vitale
Research Supervisor: Noah Wolfe
Undergraduate Institution: Grinnell College
Hometown: Tunis, Tunisia
Website: LinkedIn
Biography
Zeineb Mezghanni is a rising senior at Grinnell College, majoring in physics and
mathematics. She aims to obtain a Ph.D. in astrophysics and pursue a career in academia. As an
undergraduate, her projects have involved simulating the anharmonic oscillator using quantum
computers on Amazon Web Services and analyzing data in preparation for the AEPEX Cubesat
mission. Fascinated by the Universe and its structure, she has been working on simulating
galaxy mergers and studying dark matter using stellar streams. This summer, she is analyzing
black hole populations using LIGO data to study the correlation between spin angular momentum and mass of black holes. Beyond research, Zeineb worked as a Science Community leader and served on the Student Educational Policy Committee and Student Council on Curriculum at Grinnell College to help make the physics department more inclusive. As an American Physics Society ambassador, she has worked on sharing resources with the students and secured grants to advocate for gender minorities in physics at Grinnell.
Abstract
Spin-Mass Correlations in Black Hole Populations:
Insights from Gravitational Waves
Zeineb Mezghanni1, Noah Wolfe2, and Salvatore Vitale2
1 Departments of Physics and Mathematics, Grinnell College
2 MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology
Gravitational Waves are ripples in spacetime generated by the movement of astrophysical objects. Detected by the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA observatories, over 76 events involving compact binary mergers of binary black holes, binary neutron stars, and neutron star-black holes have been confirmed. Through population statistics, these mergers may provide insights into the astrophysics governing the birth and evolution of black hole binaries. Particularly, spin properties may serve as evidence for the existence of multiple formation channels. While previous analyses have explored correlations between black hole mass and dimensionless spin, the population distribution of spin angular momentum remains under-investigated. In this work, we build black hole population models and employ hierarchical population analysis techniques to study the existence of a correlation between spin angular momentum and masses. The resulting work can guide the efforts of theoretical astrophysical modeling to explain the origins of the black hole binaries observed to-date.
