A Beginner's Guide to Modeling Low-Frequency Gravitational-Wave Sources

I will present a pedagogical overview of methods for modeling low-frequency gravitational-wave (GW) sources and their observable signatures, focusing on supermassive black hole binaries that are detectable with pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) and with the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). I will discuss a variety of simulation and semi-analytic modeling techniques for evolving supermassive black hole populations through cosmic time, predicting the GW signals from black hole binary inspiral and merger, and leveraging current and future observations to reveal the nature of these extraordinarily energetic GW sources. This talk will be aimed at non-experts and newcomers to this field to provide an accessible introduction to related Gravitational Physics presentations at the APS Global Physics Summit.