The first informative astrophysical calibration of gravitational-wave detectors is reported using GW240925 and GW250207.
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GW250114: testing Hawking's area law and the Kerr nature of black holes
Canonical reference. 89% of citing Pith papers cite this work as background.
abstract
The gravitational-wave signal GW250114 was observed by the two LIGO detectors with a network matched-filter signal-to-noise ratio of 80. The signal was emitted by the coalescence of two black holes with near-equal masses $m_1 = 33.6^{+1.2}_{-0.8}\,M_\odot$ and $m_2 = 32.2^{+0.8}_{-1.3}\,M_\odot$, and small spins $\chi_{1,2} \leq 0.26$ (90% credibility) and negligible eccentricity $e \leq 0.03$. Post-merger data excluding the peak region are consistent with the dominant quadrupolar $(\ell = |m| = 2)$ mode of a Kerr black hole and its first overtone. We constrain the modes' frequencies to $\pm 30\%$ of the Kerr spectrum, providing a test of the remnant's Kerr nature. We also examine Hawking's area law, also known as the second law of black hole mechanics, which states that the total area of the black hole event horizons cannot decrease with time. A range of analyses that exclude up to 5 of the strongest merger cycles confirm that the remnant area is larger than the sum of the initial areas to high credibility.
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representative citing papers
Numerical relativity simulations of black hole scattering in Einstein-scalar-Gauss-Bonnet gravity agree closely with effective-one-body analytic predictions.
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.
Direct waves in filtered Schwarzschild ringdown are the anti-causal filter-pole contribution sourced by near-horizon trajectory dynamics and do not vanish.
Calculates energy fluxes with quadratic-in-spin and quadrupole effects for small-mass-ratio spinning binaries in self-force theory, providing numerical data and sixth-order PN expansions.
All gravitational-wave binaries analyzed through O4a are consistent with zero line-of-sight acceleration, measured with a new time-domain Doppler method applicable to any waveform model.
Bayesian analysis of GW230627 and GW250114 finds no deviation from GR at 4PN and 4.5PN orders, setting the first empirical baseline with 90% intervals of order O(1)-O(10).
A gravitational-wave method infers the Kerr-equivalent horizon area from direct waves in the near-merger signal of GW250114, yielding consistency with the Kerr remnant and a new test of Hawking's area law.
Quasinormal mode excitation in black hole ringdown equals the Fourier transform of the perturbation evaluated at the mode frequency, so black holes act as resonant spectral filters.
Numerical simulations of equal-mass boson-star mergers reveal larger waveform deviations from black-hole binaries in late inspiral and merger, plus odd multipole excitations for certain scalar-field phases, with some signals degenerate until IMR consistency tests are applied.
No three-body encounter signatures detected in GW170817, GW190814, and GW230627_015337, constraining intermediate-mass black holes above 100 solar masses within roughly 0.1 AU of these binaries.
Polynomial models for the (2,2) post-merger waveform amplitudes of eccentric non-spinning binary black holes are constructed from numerical-relativity data as functions of symmetric mass ratio and two merger-time dynamical parameters.
GreyRing model based on greybody factors reproduces numerical relativity ringdown signals with mismatches of order 10^{-6} and enables a new post-merger consistency test of general relativity applied to GW250114.
Leading-order deviations from general relativity in scalar quasinormal modes of rotating black holes are computed numerically up to dimensionless spins of 0.99 in quadratic-curvature scalar-tensor theories.
Presents a practical fully time-domain end-to-end likelihood for gravitational-wave inference with structured linear algebra and GPU acceleration.
A four-parameter greybody factor model reproduces the frequency-domain ringdown amplitude of comparable-mass aligned-spin mergers with mismatches of order 10^{-5}, improving existing models by two orders of magnitude.
No GWTC-3 event robustly prefers a non-BBH merger morphology once low-frequency cutoffs are raised; apparent low-compactness modes are noise artifacts, with GW231123 left as an unresolved special case.
Numerical relativity in the decoupling limit reveals dynamical scalarization and spin-induced (de)scalarization during hyperbolic black hole encounters for both signs of the coupling.
SPRING framework propagates pre-merger information into spectral-level ringdown inference, improving Bayesian support for an agnostic two-damped-sinusoid model on GW250114 by ΔlnB ~5-10 while keeping remnant posteriors consistent with IMR estimates.
Spinning test particles around rotating hairy black holes show finite-time instability in localized regions of the (spin, hair-parameter) plane that reorganize the strong-field phase space compared to Kerr.
Bayesian analysis finds individual QNM frequencies near avoided crossings hard to resolve even under optimistic conditions, though collective AC waveform signatures may remain detectable if those modes dominate and slower-mode contamination is minimal.
Constrained polarization model for Kerr ringdown modes enables inclination inference from two-detector data for non-precessing mergers but introduces biases when applied to precessing systems.
Eccentric EMRIs exhibit relativistic resonances in scalar fluxes that enhance interactions with scalar clouds and amplify waveform dephasing relative to circular orbits.
FIREFLY algorithm enables 200-fold faster multi-mode ringdown analysis for space-borne gravitational wave detectors while remaining compatible with time-delay interferometry.
citing papers explorer
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GW240925 and GW250207: Astrophysical Calibration of Gravitational-wave Detectors
The first informative astrophysical calibration of gravitational-wave detectors is reported using GW240925 and GW250207.
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Black-Hole Scattering in Einstein-scalar-Gauss-Bonnet: Numerical Relativity Meets Analytics
Numerical relativity simulations of black hole scattering in Einstein-scalar-Gauss-Bonnet gravity agree closely with effective-one-body analytic predictions.
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Testing the Kerr hypothesis beyond the quadrupole with GW241011
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.
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Foundations of Direct Waves in Schwarzschild Ringdown
Direct waves in filtered Schwarzschild ringdown are the anti-causal filter-pole contribution sourced by near-horizon trajectory dynamics and do not vanish.
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Quadrupole and quadratic-in-spin effects in quasicircular, spinning, asymmetric binaries
Calculates energy fluxes with quadratic-in-spin and quadrupole effects for small-mass-ratio spinning binaries in self-force theory, providing numerical data and sixth-order PN expansions.
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Constraints on Line-of-Sight Acceleration from O1-O4
All gravitational-wave binaries analyzed through O4a are consistent with zero line-of-sight acceleration, measured with a new time-domain Doppler method applicable to any waveform model.
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Tests of general relativity at the fourth post-Newtonian order with GW230627 and GW250114
Bayesian analysis of GW230627 and GW250114 finds no deviation from GR at 4PN and 4.5PN orders, setting the first empirical baseline with 90% intervals of order O(1)-O(10).
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Measuring a Black Hole's Area Immediately after Merger: A Direct-Wave Test of Hawking's Area Law
A gravitational-wave method infers the Kerr-equivalent horizon area from direct waves in the near-merger signal of GW250114, yielding consistency with the Kerr remnant and a new test of Hawking's area law.
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Shaping black hole resonances I. Black hole ringdown as a spectral filtering process
Quasinormal mode excitation in black hole ringdown equals the Fourier transform of the perturbation evaluated at the mode frequency, so black holes act as resonant spectral filters.
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Lessons from binary dynamics of inspiralling equal-mass boson-star mergers
Numerical simulations of equal-mass boson-star mergers reveal larger waveform deviations from black-hole binaries in late inspiral and merger, plus odd multipole excitations for certain scalar-field phases, with some signals degenerate until IMR consistency tests are applied.
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How lonely are the Binary Compact Objects Detected by the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Collaboration?
No three-body encounter signatures detected in GW170817, GW190814, and GW230627_015337, constraining intermediate-mass black holes above 100 solar masses within roughly 0.1 AU of these binaries.
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Highly eccentric non-spinning binary black hole mergers: quadrupolar post-merger waveforms
Polynomial models for the (2,2) post-merger waveform amplitudes of eccentric non-spinning binary black holes are constructed from numerical-relativity data as functions of symmetric mass ratio and two merger-time dynamical parameters.
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Novel ringdown tests of general relativity with black hole greybody factors
GreyRing model based on greybody factors reproduces numerical relativity ringdown signals with mismatches of order 10^{-6} and enables a new post-merger consistency test of general relativity applied to GW250114.
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Quadratic gravity corrections to scalar QNMs of rapidly rotating black holes
Leading-order deviations from general relativity in scalar quasinormal modes of rotating black holes are computed numerically up to dimensionless spins of 0.99 in quadratic-curvature scalar-tensor theories.
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Accelerated Time-domain Analysis for Gravitational Wave Astronomy
Presents a practical fully time-domain end-to-end likelihood for gravitational-wave inference with structured linear algebra and GPU acceleration.
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Modeling the frequency-domain ringdown amplitude of comparable-mass mergers with greybody factors
A four-parameter greybody factor model reproduces the frequency-domain ringdown amplitude of comparable-mass aligned-spin mergers with mismatches of order 10^{-5}, improving existing models by two orders of magnitude.
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Compactness Inference in Gravitational-Wave Mergers with PhenomDECO: Catalog Benchmarks and Robustness Diagnostics
No GWTC-3 event robustly prefers a non-BBH merger morphology once low-frequency cutoffs are raised; apparent low-compactness modes are noise artifacts, with GW231123 left as an unresolved special case.
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Scalarization and descalarization in hyperbolic encounters of black holes
Numerical relativity in the decoupling limit reveals dynamical scalarization and spin-induced (de)scalarization during hyperbolic black hole encounters for both signs of the coupling.
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A pre-merger-informed spectral-level ringdown inference framework for black-hole spectroscopy
SPRING framework propagates pre-merger information into spectral-level ringdown inference, improving Bayesian support for an agnostic two-damped-sinusoid model on GW250114 by ΔlnB ~5-10 while keeping remnant posteriors consistent with IMR estimates.
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Spin-Hair Induced Chaos of Spinning Test Particles in Rotating Hairy Black Holes
Spinning test particles around rotating hairy black holes show finite-time instability in localized regions of the (spin, hair-parameter) plane that reorganize the strong-field phase space compared to Kerr.
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Detectability of avoided crossings in black hole ringdowns
Bayesian analysis finds individual QNM frequencies near avoided crossings hard to resolve even under optimistic conditions, though collective AC waveform signatures may remain detectable if those modes dominate and slower-mode contamination is minimal.
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Polarization Analysis of Ringdown Signals
Constrained polarization model for Kerr ringdown modes enables inclination inference from two-detector data for non-precessing mergers but introduces biases when applied to precessing systems.
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Resonances as signatures of scalar clouds in eccentric extreme-mass-ratio inspirals
Eccentric EMRIs exhibit relativistic resonances in scalar fluxes that enhance interactions with scalar clouds and amplify waveform dephasing relative to circular orbits.
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Cracking Gravitational Wave Multiple Ringdown Modes in Space
FIREFLY algorithm enables 200-fold faster multi-mode ringdown analysis for space-borne gravitational wave detectors while remaining compatible with time-delay interferometry.
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Fast neural network surrogate for multimodal effective-one-body gravitational waveforms from generically precessing compact binaries
Neural network surrogate approximates precessing compact binary gravitational waveforms up to 1000x faster than the base EOB model with validated accuracy.
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All-order structure of static gravitational interactions and the seventh post-Newtonian potential
A closed formula computes static post-Newtonian corrections at arbitrary odd orders in gravity, yielding the explicit seventh post-Newtonian potential that matches an independent diagrammatic method.
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Ringing of rapidly rotating black holes in effective field theory
Leading-order cubic-curvature corrections to scalar quasinormal modes of black holes with spins up to 0.99M are computed numerically for modes up to l=5 with relative errors below 10^{-4}.
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Time-reversed Shannon entropy as a chaos indicator for non-integrable systems
Time-reversed Shannon entropy distinguishes chaotic from regular orbits in Kerr and Schwarzschild-Melvin spacetimes by quantifying forward-backward asymmetry in probability distributions.
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The relativistic restricted three-body problem: geometry and motion around tidally perturbed black holes
Increasing tidal deformation around a black hole drives bound geodesics through weak chaos, plunging, unbinding, and eventual depletion of all bound motion, with semi-analytic critical amplitudes for each transition.
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Plunge-Merger-Ringdown Tests of General Relativity with GW250114
GW250114 data constrains GR deviations in merger amplitude to 10% and frequency to 4% at 90% CL, with first bounds on the (4,4) mode frequency at 6%.
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Analytic self-force effects on radial infalling particles in the Schwarzschild spacetime: the radiated energy
First-order self-force analytic result for the total radiated energy of a radial infall from rest in Schwarzschild spacetime, for scalar and gravitational cases.
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Quasinormal modes of rotating black holes beyond general relativity in the WKB approximation
Higher-order WKB accurately computes quasinormal mode frequencies for rotating black holes beyond general relativity, with errors below current GW measurement precision for GW250114.
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Excitation factors for horizonless compact objects: long-lived modes, echoes, and greybody factors
Excitation factors of long-lived quasinormal modes in horizonless compact objects scale with their small imaginary frequency, suppressing early contributions and producing a hierarchy where prompt ringdown uses ordinary modes and late echoes use cavity modes.
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Extracting Properties of Dark Dense Environments around Black Holes from Gravitational Waves
A novel quantity derived from GW signals encodes the density profile of dark dense environments around black holes, allowing characterization of the condensate type and DM properties via multi-wavelength observations.
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A new group of low-spin $50-70M_\odot$ Black Holes and the high pair-instability mass cutoff
GWTC-4.0 reveals low-spin black holes up to ~68.5 Msun, implying a higher pair-instability mass cutoff and a lower 12C(alpha,gamma)16O rate.
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A parametric signal plus noise inference framework for short duration non-Gaussian noise transients
Bilby-antiglitch jointly models astrophysical signals and quasi-physical glitches to recover true source properties from simulated gravitational wave data contaminated by loud non-Gaussian transients.
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Extended parameterized spin expansion formalism for ringdown analysis with GW250114
Simultaneously sampling the EFT scaling index p̃ and length scale ℓ̃ in ParSpec shows p̃ is prior-dominated and the ℓ̃ ~ 83 km bound is mostly prior geometry.
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Constraining Kerr supermassive black hole properties using gravitational waves from inspiraling stellar-mass binary black holes
LISA observations of inspiraling stellar-mass BBHs around SMBHs can achieve relative uncertainties of 10^{-5} for SMBH mass and a few percent for spin in high-SNR cases.
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Constraining Gravitational Wave Memory with Hierarchical Inference
Hierarchical Bayesian inference on GWTC-5.0 constrains the memory enhancement factor to 0.26 with large uncertainties consistent with the GR value of 1 and forecasts that 2000 detections are needed for a 1σ constraint away from zero.
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Scalar-Tensor Gravity as a Probe of Generalized Black Hole Entropy
Generalized black-hole entropies are realized via Misner–Sharp mass and Wald entropy in scalar-tensor gravity, yielding distinct Einstein-frame scalar potentials with cosmological implications.
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Probing (sub-)solar-mass black holes and superspinars with current and next-generation gravitational-wave observatories
Using TaylorF2 post-Newtonian waveforms truncated at ISCO, the study finds that Einstein Telescope and Cosmic Explorer can reach SNR of 100-350 and measure primary spin to 10^{-4}-10^{-3} precision for 0.1-2 solar mass exotic compact objects.
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Nucleosynthesis in the fast ejecta of a neutron star merger
Free neutrons survive r-process freeze-out in fast ejecta of neutron star mergers and their beta-decay heating produces a visible early kilonova precursor for mass fractions above ~0.05.
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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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The properties and predictions of quasi-periodic oscillations around a black hole in nonlocal gravity
Nonlocal gravity shrinks the ISCO radius, boosts QPO frequencies, and constrains α/M ≤ 0.452 with M ≲ 43.6 M_⊙ for observed high-frequency QPOs under resonance models.
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Hawking area law in quantum gravity
If Hawking's area law is taken as exact, nonlocal and Stelle quantum-gravity theories are forced to drop R^2 and (Riemann)^2 terms (or use singular Ricci-flat black holes), and the standard entropy-area law follows as a consequence.
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Probing Kerr Symmetry Breaking with LISA Extreme-Mass-Ratio Inspirals
LISA EMRIs can constrain deviations from Kerr equatorial symmetry to 10^{-2} and axial symmetry to 10^{-3} using Analytic Kludge waveforms and Fisher analysis.
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Are Black Holes Fuzzballs? Probing Horizon-Scale Structure with LISA
LISA can constrain non-axisymmetric mass quadrupole deformations at the 10^{-3} level and axisymmetric mass octupole deformations at the 10^{-2} level in EMRI signals to test fuzzball proposals.
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Recoil kicks from binary black hole mergers in GWTC catalogs: implications for retention and hierarchical mergers
GWTC BBH mergers have typical recoil kicks of ~300–330 km/s, with retention of only ~2–3% in globular clusters; hierarchical-merger prospects depend on both retention and post-kick re-centering.
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LISA as a probe of pre-big-bang physics: a nested sampling analysis
Nested sampling analysis indicates LISA could constrain H1, m, sigma_i and beta in the pre-big-bang model to relative uncertainties of about 18 percent under favorable conditions when including foregrounds.
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Synergy between CSST and third-generation gravitational-wave detectors: Inferring cosmological parameters using cross-correlation of dark sirens and galaxies
Forecasts that cross-correlating 3G GW dark sirens with CSST photometric galaxies yields 1.04% precision on H0 and 2.04% on Omega_m while also constraining GW clustering bias.