Abstract

The first-ever observation of gravitational waves in 2015 heralded the birth of the field of gravitational-wave astronomy. Since then, this field has been booming, with about 90 mergers of binary black holes, black hole-neutron stars, and binary neutron stars observed to date. Each detection adds a new piece to the puzzle of their origins, propelling us from a phase of initial discovery into a `big data’ era of population studies. The compact objects we see merging today are relics of massive stars that lived in the early Universe. And so, studying their properties can help reveal the otherwise elusive lives and deaths of massive stars throughout cosmic history. In this talk, I will review 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 and dreams of population studies and discuss why the coming decades are expected to be particularly exciting.