Challenges and future perspectives in gravitational- wave astronomy: O4 and beyond

This workshop will foster an interdisciplinary discussion about how ongoing and future observations of gravitational and electromagnetic waves can be used to shed light on the physics of compact-object formation and evolution. We will bring together experts on: (i) parameter estimation from gravitational-wave data; (ii) astrophysical modeling of gravitational-wave sources and their electromagnetic counterparts; and (iii) gravitational-wave "data mining". This meeting will bring together astronomers and gravitational-wave scientists whose current research covers these three topics. The key questions we aim to address in the meeting are: how can gravitational-wave parameter estimation be integrated with other forms of astronomy to gain a more comprehensive understanding of compact-object mergers? How can gravitational-wave data help us understand the astrophysical processes and environments involved? What improvements are required for stellar/binary evolution models, cluster dynamics, and galactic nuclei for a meaningful comparison to the data? How can we use modern statistical tools to maximize the astrophysical information extracted from the gravitational-wave data?