Related papers: Minding the gap: GW190521 as a straddling binary
The growing catalog of gravitational-wave detections from the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) collaboration reveals structure in the binary black hole (BBH) mass distribution, including peaks near m1 = 10 solar masses and m1 = 35 solar masses, a…
Binary black holes (BBHs) born from the evolution of Population III (Pop. III) stars are one of the main high-redshift targets for next-generation ground-based gravitational-wave (GW) detectors. Their predicted initial mass function and…
We search for features in the mass distribution of detected compact binary coalescences which signify the transition between neutron stars and black holes. We analyze all gravitational wave detections by LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA made through the…
GW190521, the most massive binary black hole merger confidently detected by the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA collaboration, is the first gravitational-wave observation of an intermediate-mass black hole. The signal was followed approximately 34 days…
We present an alternative formation scenario for the gravitational wave event GW190521, that can be explained as the merger of central black holes from two ultra-dwarf galaxies of stellar mass $\sim 10^5-10^6 ~M_\odot$, which had themselves…
In this paper, we address the question: What is the probability of stellar-mass black hole (BH) binaries co-existing in a globular cluster with an intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH)? Our results suggest that the detection of one or more BH…
Solar-mass black holes with masses in the range of $\sim 1-2.5 M_{\odot}$ are not expected from conventional stellar evolution, but can be produced naturally via neutron star (NS) implosions induced by capture of small primordial black…
Observations of elliptical galaxies suggest that black holes (BHs) might serve as dark energy candidates, coupled to the expansion of the Universe. According to this hypothesis, the mass of a BH could increase as the Universe expands. BH…
The complex astrophysical processes leading to the formation of binary black holes and their eventual merger are imprinted on the spins of the individual black holes. We revisit the astrophysical distribution of those spins based on…
We investigate the formation of merging binary black holes (BHs) through isolated binary evolution, performing binary population synthesis calculations covering an unprecedentedly wide metallicity range of Population (Pop) I, II, III, and…
When modeling the population of merging binary black holes, analyses have generally focused on characterizing the distribution of primary (i.e. more massive) black holes in the binary, while simplistic prescriptions are used for the…
We perform a systematic study of merging black hole (BH) binaries with compact star (CS) companions, including black hole--white dwarf (BH--WD), black hole--neutron star (BH--NS) and black hole--black hole (BH--BH) systems. Previous studies…
The population-level distributions of the masses, spins, and redshifts of binary black holes (BBHs) observed using gravitational waves can shed light on how these systems form and evolve. Because of the complex astrophysical processes…
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…
We identify a binary black hole (BBH) merger that appears to be multiply lensed by an intervening galaxy. The LIGO/Virgo events GW170809 and GW170814 have indistinguishable waveforms separated by 5 days, and overlap on the sky within the…
The relation between the mass and spin of stellar-mass binary black holes (BBHs) has been proposed to be a smoking gun for the presence of multiple formation channels for compact objects. First-generation black holes (BHs) formed by…
One striking feature of binary black hole (BBH) mergers observed in the first decade of gravitational-wave astronomy is an excess of events with component masses around $35\,\mathrm{M}_{\odot}$. Multiple formation channels have been…
Regardless of their initial spins, the merger of two roughly equal mass black holes (BHs) produces a remnant BH of dimensionless spin $0.69$. Such remnants can merge with other BHs in dense stellar environments and produce hierarchical…
Gravitational waves (GWs) from compact binary coalescences provide an independent probe of the cosmic expansion history other than electromagnetic waves. In this work, we assume the binary black holes (BBHs) detected by LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA…
We characterize the expected statistical errors with which the parameters of black-hole binaries can be measured from gravitational-wave (GW) observations of their inspiral, merger and ringdown by a network of second-generation ground-based…