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2w ago

LIGO–Virgo–KAGRA Unveil Catalog That More Than Doubles Gravitational-Wave Detections

The enlarged data set lets researchers tighten tests of general relativity by probing black-hole populations.

The Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog 4.0, pictured, is a record of cosmic mergers detected between 2015 and 2024 by the LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA gravitational wave observatories. Each panel is a time and frequency signature of an individual event — the merger of two black holes, two neutron stars, or one of each, somewhere out in the cosmos.
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Overview

  • The GWTC-4.0 release adds 128 signals from the O4a run spanning May 2023 to January 2024, pushing the catalog to well over twice the size of its predecessor.
  • Detections include black hole–black hole, black hole–neutron star in two cases, and neutron star–neutron star mergers, expanding the diversity of confirmed sources.
  • Standout events feature the most massive binary yet (GW231123, with components near 130 solar masses), the highest-spin pair observed (GW231028, rotating at about 40% of light speed), and a record mass asymmetry (GW231118).
  • A particularly clear signal, GW230814, enabled stringent strong-field tests of Einstein’s theory, with analyses to date finding no deviations from general relativity.
  • Using the full catalog, researchers produced an independent estimate of the Hubble constant at roughly 76 km/s per megaparsec, with data now publicly available for wider analysis.