Related papers: Probing Correlations in the Binary Black Hole Popu…
Current population models of binary black hole distributions are difficult to interpret because standard population inferences hinge on modeling choices, which can mask or mimic real structure. The maximum population likelihood…
Despite a decade's worth of gravitational wave observation, the origin of the binary black hole (BBH) mergers detected by the LIGO-VIRGO-Kagra (LVK) collaboration remains an open question. Towards assessing the feasibility and prevalence of…
Binary black holes may form both through isolated binary evolution and through dynamical interactions in dense stellar environments. The formation channel leaves an imprint on the alignment between the black hole spins and the orbital…
Astrophysically motivated population models for binary black hole observables are often insufficient to capture the imprints of multiple formation channels. This is mainly due to the strongly parametrized nature of such investigations.…
The degree of black-hole spin-orbit misalignment ("tilts") in the astrophysical population could be a powerful diagnostic to distinguish between binary formation in isolation, in dynamical environments, or in hierarchical triples. However,…
The spin-orbit tilt angles $\theta_{1(2)}$ of merging stellar-mass black holes provide key insights into their astrophysical origin. Non-parametric population modelling of The LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA Collaborations (2025a, arXiv:2508.18083)…
The first direct detections of gravitational waves from merging binary black holes open a unique window into the binary black hole formation environment. One promising environmental signature is the angular distribution of the black hole…
Gravitational wave measurements will provide insight into the population of coalescing compact binaries throughout the universe. We describe and demonstrate a flexible parametric method to infer the event rate as a function of compact…
The mass distribution of merging binary black holes is generically predicted to evolve with redshift, reflecting systematic changes in their astrophysical environment, stellar progenitors, and/or dominant formation channels over cosmic…
Recent work paints a conflicting portrait of the distribution of black hole spins in merging binaries measured with gravitational waves. Some analyses find that a significant fraction of merging binaries contain at least one black hole with…
We study the expected spin misalignments of merging binary black holes (BHs) formed in isolation by combining state-of-the-art population-synthesis models with efficient post-Newtonian evolutions, thus tracking sources from stellar…
The detection of gravitational waves has brought to light a population of binary black holes that merge within a Hubble time. Multiple formation channels can contribute to this population, making it difficult to definitively associate…
The Advanced LIGO and Virgo detectors have now observed approximately 50 black-hole-binary mergers, from which we can begin to infer how rapidly astrophysical black holes spin. The LIGO-Virgo Collaboration (LVC) analysis of detections up to…
Since the initial discovery of gravitational-waves from merging black holes, the LIGO Scientific Collaboration together with Virgo and KAGRA have published 90 gravitational-wave observations of compact binary mergers in the…
Hierarchical analysis of the binary black hole (BBH) detections by the Advanced LIGO and Virgo detectors has offered an increasingly clear picture of their mass, spin, and redshift distributions. Fully understanding the formation and…
The distribution of effective spin $\chi_{\rm eff}$, a parameter that encodes the degree of spin-orbit alignment in a binary system, has been widely regarded as a robust discriminator between the isolated and dynamical formation pathways…
The recent detections of the binary black hole mergers GW150914 and GW151226 have inaugurated the field of gravitational-wave astronomy. For the two main formation channels that have been proposed for these sources, isolated binary…
We study the formation of coalescing binary black holes via the evolution of isolated field binaries that go through the common envelope phase in order to obtain the combined distributions of the main observables of Advanced LIGO. We used a…
The astrophysical origins of the binary black hole systems seen with gravitational waves are still not well understood. However, features in the distribution of black-hole masses, spins, redshifts, and eccentricities provide clues into how…
The spin properties of merging black holes observed with gravitational waves can offer novel information about the origin of these systems. The magnitude and orientations of black hole spins offer a record of binaries' evolutionary history,…