GW231123's masses and high spins are consistent with primordial black holes that accreted mass and angular momentum in the early universe within the standard PBH framework.
Canonical reference
Are merging black holes born from stellar collapse or previous mergers?
Canonical reference. 80% of citing Pith papers cite this work as background.
8
Pith papers citing it
Background
80% of classified citations
abstract
Advanced LIGO detectors at Hanford and Livingston made two confirmed and one marginal detection of binary black holes during their first observing run. The first event, GW150914, was from the merger of two black holes much heavier that those whose masses have been estimated so far, indicating a formation scenario that might differ from "ordinary" stellar evolution. One possibility is that these heavy black holes resulted from a previous merger. When the progenitors of a black hole binary merger result from previous mergers, they should (on average) merge later, be more massive, and have spin magnitudes clustered around a dimensionless spin ~0.7. Here we ask the following question: can gravitational-wave observations determine whether merging black holes were born from the collapse of massive stars ("first generation"), rather than being the end product of earlier mergers ("second generation")? We construct simple, observationally motivated populations of black hole binaries, and we use Bayesian model selection to show that measurements of the masses, luminosity distance (or redshift), and "effective spin" of black hole binaries can indeed distinguish between these different formation scenarios.
citation-role summary
background 5
citation-polarity summary
roles
background 5representative citing papers
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
GWTC-4 data show a transition to nearly all hierarchical mergers above 46 solar masses, with the hierarchical rate peaking at 15.7 solar masses, indicating mass-dependent substructure in black hole spins.
LGWA could observe more than one third of known binary black hole events, detect ~90 mergers per year, and measure chirp mass better than third-generation detectors for massive systems.
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.
Using HBI on GWTC-4 data the authors compute lensed SGWBs for ABHs and PBHs and conclude that LIGO and ET can distinguish the two formation channels in specific frequency ranges, with ET offering broader coverage.
GWTC-2.1 adds eight new high-significance compact binary coalescence events to the prior catalog, extending the observed black hole mass range and including candidates inside the pair-instability mass gap.
citing papers explorer
-
GW231123: A Possible Primordial Black Hole Origin
GW231123's masses and high spins are consistent with primordial black holes that accreted mass and angular momentum in the early universe within the standard PBH framework.
-
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
-
Signatures of a subpopulation of hierarchical mergers in the GWTC-4 gravitational-wave dataset
GWTC-4 data show a transition to nearly all hierarchical mergers above 46 solar masses, with the hierarchical rate peaking at 15.7 solar masses, indicating mass-dependent substructure in black hole spins.
-
Gravitational-wave parameter estimation to the Moon and back: massive binaries and the case of GW231123
LGWA could observe more than one third of known binary black hole events, detect ~90 mergers per year, and measure chirp mass better than third-generation detectors for massive systems.
-
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.
-
Effects of formation channels and gravitational lensing on stochastic gravitational wave background
Using HBI on GWTC-4 data the authors compute lensed SGWBs for ABHs and PBHs and conclude that LIGO and ET can distinguish the two formation channels in specific frequency ranges, with ET offering broader coverage.
-
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-2.1 adds eight new high-significance compact binary coalescence events to the prior catalog, extending the observed black hole mass range and including candidates inside the pair-instability mass gap.
- A new group of low-spin $50-70M_\odot$ Black Holes and the high pair-instability mass cutoff