The Mass-Ratio Distribution of the Low-Mass Binary Black Hole Subpopulation: A Natural Outcome of Isolated Binary Evolution

arXiv:2609.01784 · astro-ph.HE, astro-ph.SR · Submitted 2026-09-01 · Read on arXiv

astro-ph.HE, astro-ph.SR

Submitted: 2026-09-01

Updated: 2026-09-01

Comments: 14 pages, 3 figures

License: http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/

Terminology

• Core — 15× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
• Population Synthesis — 6× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
• Accretion Efficiency — 5× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
• AGN — 3× in this paper · explained in 1 episode
• Metallicity — 3× in this paper · explained in 3 episodes
• Trace — 2× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
• Abundance — 1× in this paper · explained in 1 episode
• Accretion Physics — 1× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
• Angular Momentum Transport — 1× in this paper · explained in 3 episodes
• Calibration — 1× in this paper · explained in 7 episodes
• Clustering — 1× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
• Consistency — 1× in this paper · explained in 3 episodes
• Fine-Tuning — 1× in this paper · explained in 5 episodes
• Mass Segregation — 1× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
• Momentum transfer — 1× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
• Robustness — 1× in this paper · explained in 5 episodes

Sources

• GWTC-4.0: Population Properties of Merging Compact Binaries
• GWTC-4.0: Updating the Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog with Observations from the First Part of the Fourth LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Observing Run
• GWTC-5.0: Population Properties of Merging Compact Binaries
• GWTC-5.0: Observations from the Second Part of the Fourth LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Observing Run and Updates to the Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog
• Binary Black Hole Phase Space Discovers the Signature of Pair Instability Supernovae Mass Gap
• Evidence for additional structure in the effective spin distribution hints at multiple formation pathways in GWTC-5.0
• Gravitational-wave constraints on the pair-instability mass gap and nuclear burning in massive stars
• Evidence for Three Subpopulations of Merging Binary Black Holes at Different Primary Masses
• Constraints on primordial black holes from the first part of LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA fourth observing run
• The steep redshift evolution of the hierarchical binary black hole merger rate may cause the $z$-$\chi_{\rm eff}$ correlation
• Can current models predict the local black hole merger rate?
• A case for Case A: detailed look at binary black hole formation through stable mass transfer
• Transitions in the Mass-ratio and Spin Properties of Binary Black Holes in GWTC-5
• Distinct spin properties and astrophysical origin of low mass binary black holes in gravitational wave data
• Lower Your Rates: On Claims of a Binary Black Hole Merger-Rate Crisis
• Compactness Peaks and Subpopulations: Probing Stellar Physics and Formation Channels of Merging Binary Black Holes
• A Stellar Role Reversal: Multiple Features in the Mass and Mass Ratio Distributions of Merging Binary Black Holes from Stable Mass Transfer
• Reversible-jump MCMC reveals binary black hole subpopulations with distinct redshift evolution
• Cosmic Cousins: Identification of a Subpopulation of Binary Black Holes Consistent with Isolated Binary Evolution
• A Strongly Parametrized Mass Ratio Model for the Stable Mass Transfer Channel: a Case Study of the $10 \, \rm{M}_{\odot}$ Peak

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