Ultralight Bosons Explain the Mass-Spin Correlations in the Merging Binary Black Hole Population

arXiv:2609.02678 · gr-qc, astro-ph.CO, hep-ph · Submitted 2026-09-02 · Read on arXiv

gr-qc, astro-ph.CO, hep-ph

Submitted: 2026-09-02

Updated: 2026-09-02

Terminology

• Superradiance — 66× in this paper · explained in 3 episodes
• Bayesian Inference — 10× in this paper · explained in 5 episodes
• AGN — 9× in this paper · explained in 1 episode
• Accuracy — 4× in this paper · explained in 1 episode
• Consistency — 4× in this paper · explained in 3 episodes
• Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) — 1× in this paper · explained in 1 episode
• Alignment — 1× in this paper · explained in 1 episode
• Area Law — 1× in this paper · explained in 1 episode
• Degeneracy — 1× in this paper · explained in 3 episodes
• Metallicity — 1× in this paper · explained in 3 episodes
• Robustness — 1× in this paper · explained in 5 episodes
• Selection Bias — 1× in this paper · explained in 4 episodes
• Society of Physicists Interested in Non-Aligned Spins — 1× in this paper

Sources

• Prospects for Observing and Localizing Gravitational-Wave Transients with Advanced LIGO, Advanced Virgo and KAGRA
• GWTC-1: A Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog of Compact Binary Mergers Observed by LIGO and Virgo during the First and Second Observing Runs
• GWTC-2: Compact Binary Coalescences Observed by LIGO and Virgo During the First Half of the Third Observing Run
• GWTC-2.1: Deep Extended Catalog of Compact Binary Coalescences Observed by LIGO and Virgo During the First Half of the Third Observing Run
• GWTC-3: Compact Binary Coalescences Observed by LIGO and Virgo During the Second Part of the Third Observing Run
• GWTC-5.0: Observations from the Second Part of the Fourth LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Observing Run and Updates to the Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog
• Population Properties of Compact Objects from the Second LIGO-Virgo Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog
• The population of merging compact binaries inferred using gravitational waves through GWTC-3
• Evidence for hierarchical black hole mergers in the second LIGO--Virgo gravitational-wave catalog
• One Channel to Rule Them All? Constraining the Origins of Binary Black Holes using Multiple Formation Pathways
• The properties of merging black holes and neutron stars across cosmic time
• Gravitational-wave detection rates for compact binaries formed in isolation: LIGO/Virgo O3 and beyond
• Impact of Massive Binary Star and Cosmic Evolution on Gravitational Wave Observations II: Double Compact Object Rates and Properties
• The redshift evolution of the binary black hole merger rate: a weighty matter
• GWTC-4.0: Population Properties of Merging Compact Binaries
• GWTC-5.0: Population Properties of Merging Compact Binaries
• Inferring black hole formation channels in GWTC-4.0 via parametric mass-spin correlations derived from first principles
• A subpopulation of low-mass, spinning black holes: signatures of dynamical assembly
• Potential Subpopulations and Assembling Tendency of the Merging Black Holes
• The spin magnitude of stellar-mass binary black holes evolves with the mass: evidence from gravitational wave data

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