The first informative astrophysical calibration of gravitational-wave detectors is reported using GW240925 and GW250207.
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GWTC-2: Compact Binary Coalescences Observed by LIGO and Virgo During the First Half of the Third Observing Run
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abstract
We report on gravitational wave discoveries from compact binary coalescences detected by Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo in the first half of the third observing run (O3a) between 1 April 2019 15:00 UTC and 1 October 2019 15:00. By imposing a false-alarm-rate threshold of two per year in each of the four search pipelines that constitute our search, we present 39 candidate gravitational wave events. At this threshold, we expect a contamination fraction of less than 10%. Of these, 26 candidate events were reported previously in near real-time through GCN Notices and Circulars; 13 are reported here for the first time. The catalog contains events whose sources are black hole binary mergers up to a redshift of ~0.8, as well as events whose components could not be unambiguously identified as black holes or neutron stars. For the latter group, we are unable to determine the nature based on estimates of the component masses and spins from gravitational wave data alone. The range of candidate events which are unambiguously identified as binary black holes (both objects $\geq 3~M_\odot$) is increased compared to GWTC-1, with total masses from $\sim 14~M_\odot$ for GW190924_021846 to $\sim 150~M_\odot$ for GW190521. For the first time, this catalog includes binary systems with significantly asymmetric mass ratios, which had not been observed in data taken before April 2019. We also find that 11 of the 39 events detected since April 2019 have positive effective inspiral spins under our default prior (at 90% credibility), while none exhibit negative effective inspiral spin. Given the increased sensitivity of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo, the detection of 39 candidate events in ~26 weeks of data (~1.5 per week) is consistent with GWTC-1.
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representative citing papers
The first search for scalar-induced gravitational waves via pulsar parameter drifts yields f_PBH < 10^{-10} (95% CL) for PBH masses 0.3 to 4e4 solar masses, strongly disfavoring a primordial black hole origin for LVK binary black holes.
GW241011 data shows consistency with Kerr black holes for both quadrupole and octupole moments and delivers the first observational bounds on spin-induced octupole deviations.
The gwNRHME framework constructs a multi-modal non-spinning eccentric gravitational waveform surrogate by modulating quasi-circular models with universal eccentric functions, achieving median mismatches of ~9e-5 against 156 NR waveforms.
A general relativistic derivation of gravitational wave response in an optically levitated cavity sensor reveals position-dependent strain sensitivity and suppressed input-mirror noise coupling.
A Chebyshev-basis expansion reduces gravitational-wave fluxes from arbitrary-eccentricity bound Schwarzschild geodesics to sums of previously derived Keplerian Fourier coefficients, achieving 10^{-5} relative accuracy on total flux for tested orbits.
A unified confluent HeunC framework computes gravitational-wave fluxes from generic Kerr orbits with 10^{-11} relative errors and speedups of 3-60x over existing packages for low- and high-order modes.
High initial eccentricities in stellar-mass black hole binaries produce a stochastic gravitational wave background distinguishable by LISA from quasi-circular models, enabling upper bounds on eccentricity and separation of environmental effects for dense gas.
Analytic gravitational waveforms from radial test-particle infall into a thin-shell traversable wormhole exhibit a characteristic pulse-gap structure from repeated throat crossings and lie within reach of ground-based detectors at ~500 Mpc.
Normalizing flows replace binned histograms for estimating multi-detector signal parameters in PyCBC, slashing storage by three orders of magnitude with under 0.05% sensitivity loss and up to 6.55% gains in specific cases.
pyEFPEHM extends prior PN models to include higher-order quasi-circular phasing, generalized precession solutions, and eccentric corrections up to 1PN in selected multipoles for eccentric precessing binaries with matter effects.
Dynamical formation in globular clusters produces a robust second black-hole mass peak at ~70 solar masses from second-generation mergers when the first-generation spectrum is truncated by pair-instability supernovae.
Maximum-likelihood-based posterior predictive checks detect model misspecification better than event-level versions for uncertain spin tilts, but current detector sensitivity limits their power; the Gaussian Component Spins model underpredicts high spin magnitudes and overpredicts anti-aligned tilts
IMRPhenomXPHM is a new computationally efficient phenomenological model for precessing binary black hole gravitational-wave signals that incorporates higher-order modes via twisting-up maps from non-precessing waveforms.
Dual-model analysis of 162 GW sources disfavors eccentricity for most events but finds potential evidence in GW200129, GW231001, and GW231123.
Spin prior choices propagate into tests of GR via the 1.5PN deviation parameter δφ̂3 in a non-trivial, event-dependent way, with stronger effects for short-inspiral events and partial degeneracy with χ_eff when the deviation is included.
Orthonormal QNM analysis of GW250114 raises the significance of the first overtone of the ℓ=m=2 mode from 82.5% to 99.9% and detects no significant deviation from Kerr predictions.
Purely quadratic non-Gaussianity from tachyonic instability allows narrow curvature spectra to exponentially suppress primordial black hole overproduction via correlation coefficient ρ approaching -1 while retaining sizable scalar-induced gravitational waves.
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Recoil kicks are inferred for GWTC-4 binary black hole events with values up to nearly 1000 km/s for some, yielding retention probabilities of 1-5% in globular clusters and 70-100% in elliptical galaxies.
Population-informed hierarchical parameter estimation is required for unbiased astrophysical interpretation of gravitational-wave events rather than using standard individual posteriors with reference priors.
Baselines of 8-11 ms light travel time for two CE detectors provide a reasonable compromise for BBH sky localization, with third detectors eliminating multimodality for most or all events.
Two asymmetric BBH mergers are characterized with mass ratios 0.35 and ≤0.20; one shows high spins, negative χ_eff, and strong precession, suggesting an emerging population of massive rapidly spinning systems.
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The gwNRHME framework constructs a multi-modal non-spinning eccentric gravitational waveform surrogate by modulating quasi-circular models with universal eccentric functions, achieving median mismatches of ~9e-5 against 156 NR waveforms.
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Gravitational wave signal and noise response of an optically levitated sensor in a Fabry-P\'erot cavity
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Analytical Fluxes from Generic Schwarzschild Geodesics
A Chebyshev-basis expansion reduces gravitational-wave fluxes from arbitrary-eccentricity bound Schwarzschild geodesics to sums of previously derived Keplerian Fourier coefficients, achieving 10^{-5} relative accuracy on total flux for tested orbits.
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Efficient and Stable Computation of Gravitational-Wave Fluxes from Generic Kerr Orbits via a Unified HeunC Framework
A unified confluent HeunC framework computes gravitational-wave fluxes from generic Kerr orbits with 10^{-11} relative errors and speedups of 3-60x over existing packages for low- and high-order modes.
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Implications of the LISA stochastic signal from eccentric stellar mass black hole binaries in vacuum
High initial eccentricities in stellar-mass black hole binaries produce a stochastic gravitational wave background distinguishable by LISA from quasi-circular models, enabling upper bounds on eccentricity and separation of environmental effects for dense gas.
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Gravitational Waves from a Black Hole Falling Radially into a Thin-Shell Traversable Wormhole
Analytic gravitational waveforms from radial test-particle infall into a thin-shell traversable wormhole exhibit a characteristic pulse-gap structure from repeated throat crossings and lie within reach of ground-based detectors at ~500 Mpc.
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Normalizing flows for density estimation in multi-detector gravitational-wave searches
Normalizing flows replace binned histograms for estimating multi-detector signal parameters in PyCBC, slashing storage by three orders of magnitude with under 0.05% sensitivity loss and up to 6.55% gains in specific cases.
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Post-Newtonian inspiral waveform model for eccentric precessing binaries with higher-order modes and matter effects
pyEFPEHM extends prior PN models to include higher-order quasi-circular phasing, generalized precession solutions, and eccentric corrections up to 1PN in selected multipoles for eccentric precessing binaries with matter effects.
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Second-Generation Mass Peak in the Gravitational-Wave Population as a Probe of Globular Clusters
Dynamical formation in globular clusters produces a robust second black-hole mass peak at ~70 solar masses from second-generation mergers when the first-generation spectrum is truncated by pair-instability supernovae.
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Posterior Predictive Checks for Gravitational-wave Populations: Limitations and Improvements
Maximum-likelihood-based posterior predictive checks detect model misspecification better than event-level versions for uncertain spin tilts, but current detector sensitivity limits their power; the Gaussian Component Spins model underpredicts high spin magnitudes and overpredicts anti-aligned tilts
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Computationally efficient models for the dominant and sub-dominant harmonic modes of precessing binary black holes
IMRPhenomXPHM is a new computationally efficient phenomenological model for precessing binary black hole gravitational-wave signals that incorporates higher-order modes via twisting-up maps from non-precessing waveforms.
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Assessing the imprint of eccentricity in GW signatures using two independent waveform models
Dual-model analysis of 162 GW sources disfavors eccentricity for most events but finds potential evidence in GW200129, GW231001, and GW231123.
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The Impact of Spin Priors on Parameterized Tests of General Relativity
Spin prior choices propagate into tests of GR via the 1.5PN deviation parameter δφ̂3 in a non-trivial, event-dependent way, with stronger effects for short-inspiral events and partial degeneracy with χ_eff when the deviation is included.
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Ringdown Analysis of GW250114 with Orthonormal Modes
Orthonormal QNM analysis of GW250114 raises the significance of the first overtone of the ℓ=m=2 mode from 82.5% to 99.9% and detects no significant deviation from Kerr predictions.
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Purely Quadratic Non-Gaussianity from Tachyonic Instability: Primordial Black Holes and Scalar-Induced Gravitational Waves
Purely quadratic non-Gaussianity from tachyonic instability allows narrow curvature spectra to exponentially suppress primordial black hole overproduction via correlation coefficient ρ approaching -1 while retaining sizable scalar-induced gravitational waves.
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Bayesian Analysis of Gravitational Wave Microlensing Effects from Galactic Double White Dwarfs
Bayesian analysis of simulated Taiji observations shows microlensing from lenses above 10^5 solar masses can be distinguished from unlensed DWD signals when separation is below 3 Einstein radii, while lower masses or larger separations cannot.
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Inference of recoil kicks from binary black hole mergers up to GWTC--4 and their astrophysical implications
Recoil kicks are inferred for GWTC-4 binary black hole events with values up to nearly 1000 km/s for some, yielding retention probabilities of 1-5% in globular clusters and 70-100% in elliptical galaxies.
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Gravitational-wave astronomy requires population-informed parameter estimation
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Not too close! Evaluating the impact of the baseline on the localization of binary black holes by next-generation gravitational-wave detectors
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