Vishal Baibhav

Vishal is a NASA Einstein Fellow at Columbia University who studies gravitational wave astrophysics. His research focuses on understanding the origins of gravitational wave sources, particularly how compact-object binaries, such as pairs of black holes and neutron stars, form and evolve. Although mergers of these objects have been detected by observatories like LIGO, Virgo, and Kagra, their exact origins and formation processes remain unclear. Vishal’s work aims to address key questions about how, when, and where these binaries form, as well as the stellar environments that shape them.

In addition, Vishal is also interested in post-merger waveform modeling, particularly in the ringdown phase following a binary black hole merger, where the newly formed black hole emits gravitational waves in the form of damped oscillations known as quasinormal modes (QNMs). His research aims to understand which harmonics and overtones are played during black hole mergers and which of these can be heard by gravitational wave detectors. Known as black hole spectroscopy, this idea uses QNM fingerprints in gravitational wave signals to identify remnant black holes in a manner similar to how atomic spectra identify elements.