Related papers: GW170817A as a Hierarchical Black Hole Merger
Recent gravitational wave (GW) observations by LIGO/Virgo show evidence for hierarchical mergers, where the merging BHs are the remnants of previous BH merger events. These events may carry important clues about the astrophysical host…
In dense stellar environments, the merger products of binary black hole mergers may undergo additional mergers. These hierarchical mergers are predicted to have higher masses than the first generation of black holes made from stars. The…
We review theoretical findings, astrophysical modeling, and current gravitational-wave evidence of hierarchical stellar-mass black-hole mergers. While most of the compact binary mergers detected by LIGO and Virgo are expected to consist of…
The binary black hole merger GW231123 is both the most massive gravitational-wave event observed and has the highest component spins measured to date. The dimensionless spins of the more massive (primary) and less massive (secondary) black…
GW241011 and GW241110 both exhibit extremely asymmetric masses, high primary spins, and significant spin-orbit misalignment, which challenge the formation of first-generation binary black hole mergers formed from stellar collapse. This…
The heaviest black holes discovered through gravitational waves have masses that are difficult to explain with current standard stellar models. This discrepancy may be due to a series of hierarchical mergers, where the observed black holes…
Repeated black-hole mergers in dense stellar clusters are a plausible mechanism to populate the predicted gap in black hole masses due to the pair-instability supernova process. These hierarchical mergers carry distinct spin characteristics…
Hierarchical black hole (BH) mergers are one of the most straightforward mechanisms to produce BHs inside and above the pair-instability mass gap. Here, we investigate the impact of globular cluster (GC) evolution on hierarchical mergers,…
With the growing number of binary black hole (BBH) mergers detected by LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA, several systems have become difficult to explain via isolated binary evolution, having components in the pair-instability mass gap, high orbital…
We introduce a new technique to search for gravitational wave events from compact binary mergers that produce a clear signal only in a single gravitational wave detector, and marginal signals in other detectors. Such a situation can arise…
We explore the possibility that GW190412, a binary black hole merger with a non-equal-mass ratio and significantly spinning primary, was formed through repeated black hole mergers in a dense super star cluster. Using a combination of…
The merging black-hole (BH) binaries GW190412, GW190814 and GW190521 from the third LIGO/VIRGO observing run exhibit some extraordinary properties, including highly asymmetric masses, significant spin, and component mass in the "mass gap".…
The detection of gravitational waves from merging black holes with masses $\sim\,80-150\,\mathrm{M_\odot}$ suggests that some proportion of black hole binary systems form hierarchically in dense astrophysical environments, as most stellar…
Ground-based gravitational wave (GW) observatories have detected approximately 200 binary black hole (BH) mergers. The astrophysical origin of these events are debated, with evidence suggesting that at least a subset originated from dynamic…
Gravitational-wave observations give a unique insight into the formation and evolution of binary black holes. We use gravitational-wave measurements to address the question of whether GW170729's source, which is (probably) the most massive…
The origin, environment, and evolution of stellar-mass black hole binaries are still a mystery. One of the proposed binary formation mechanisms is manifest in dynamical interactions between multiple black holes. A resulting framework of…
GW231123 exhibits exceedingly massive components and high spins, which challenges the formation of first-generation (1G) black holes from stellar collapse and implies that this event might originate from hierarchical mergers. Here we show…
We discuss the properties of stellar mass black hole (BH) mergers induced by tidal encounters with a massive BH at galactic centres or potentially in dense star clusters. The tidal disruption of stellar binaries by a massive BH is known to…
The origins of the stellar-mass black hole mergers discovered by LIGO/Virgo are still unknown. Here we show that, if migration traps develop in the \add{accretion} disks of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) and promote the mergers of their…
The discovery of the gravitational-wave source GW150914 with the Advanced LIGO detectors provides the first observational evidence for the existence of binary black-hole systems that inspiral and merge within the age of the Universe. Such…