Related papers: Reversible-jump MCMC reveals binary black hole sub…
Gravitational wave detectors are starting to reveal the redshift evolution of the binary black hole (BBH) merger rate, $R_{\mathrm{BBH}}(z)$. We make predictions for $R_{\mathrm{BBH}}(z)$ as a function of black hole mass for systems…
The growing number of binary black hole mergers detected through gravitational waves offers unprecedented insight into their underlying population, yet their astrophysical formation channels remain unresolved. We present a new method to…
We report on the population of the 47 compact binary mergers detected with a false-alarm rate 1/yr in the second LIGO--Virgo Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog, GWTC-2. We observe several characteristics of the merging binary black hole…
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 investigate the role of mass ratio reversal (MRR), in which the initially less massive star in a binary forms the more massive compact object, in shaping the astrophysical binary black hole (BBH) merger rate and mass distribution…
The ground-based measurement of gravitational waves (GW) from merging binary black holes (BBH) uniquely allows determination of spins of stellar-remnant black holes (BH), thereby offering insights into their formation mechanisms. The…
We report on the population properties of compact binary mergers inferred from gravitational-wave observations of these systems during the first three LIGO-Virgo observing runs. The Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog 3 contains signals…
We present an empirical approach for interpreting gravitational wave signals of binary black hole mergers under the assumption that the underlying black hole population is sourced by remnants of stellar evolution. Using the observed…
The formation and evolution of binary black holes (BH) is studied using the modern evolutionary scenario for very massive stars with high mass loss (Vanbeveren et al. 1998). Main sequence stars with masses $M>35 M_\odot$ are assumed to form…
Since the first signal in 2015, the gravitational-wave detections of merging binary black holes (BBHs) by the LIGO and Virgo collaborations (LVC) have completely transformed our understanding of the lives and deaths of compact object…
We present a novel self-consistent theoretical framework to characterize the formation, evolution, and merger sites of dynamically-formed black hole binaries, with a focus on explaining the most massive events observed by the…
With the growing number of detections of binary black hole mergers, we are beginning to probe structure in the distribution of masses. A recent study by Schneider et al. proposes that isolated binary evolution of stripped stars naturally…
The LIGO and Virgo gravitational-wave detectors have uncovered binary black hole systems with definitively nonzero spins, as well as systems with significant spin residing in the more massive black hole of the pair. We investigate the…
The origin of the black hole (BH) binary mergers observed by LIGO-Virgo is still uncertain, as are the boundaries of the stellar BH mass function. Stellar evolution models predict a dearth of BHs both at masses $\gtrsim 50$ M$_\odot$ and…
We investigate the population properties of binary black holes (BBHs) from the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA collaboration, focusing especially on those in the high-mass range, using the newly released GWTC-4 catalog. For the first time, we search for a…
Rapid binary population synthesis codes are often used to investigate the evolution of compact-object binaries. They typically rely on analytical fits of single-star evolutionary tracks and parameterized models for interactive phases of…
Observations of gravitational waves from binary black hole (BBH) mergers have measured the redshift evolution of the BBH merger rate. The number density of galaxies in the Universe evolves differently with redshift based on their physical…
Binary black holes formed via different pathways are predicted to have distinct spin properties. Measuring these properties with gravitational waves provides an opportunity to unveil the origins of binary black holes. Recent work draws…
We present the mass--spin diagram for classifying black holes and studying their formation pathways providing an analogue to the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. This allows for black hole evolutionary tracks as a function of redshift,…
Understanding the origin of merging binary black holes is currently one of the most pressing quests in astrophysics. We show that if isolated binary evolution dominates the formation mechanism of merging binary black holes, one should…