How do the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA's Heavy Black Holes Form? No evidence for core-collapse Intermediate-mass black holes in GWTC-4
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arXiv
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2026
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| author | Xia, Fan-Xiao-Yu Wang, Yuan-Zhu Qin, Ying |
| author_facet | Xia, Fan-Xiao-Yu Wang, Yuan-Zhu Qin, Ying |
| contents | We investigate the population properties of binary black holes (BBHs) from the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA collaboration, focusing especially on those in the high-mass range, using the newly released GWTC-4 catalog. For the first time, we search for a subpopulation of low-spin intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) that would indicate formation via stellar core collapse. With the currently available catalog, we find no evidence for such a subpopulation, and set a 90\% upper limit on the merger rate of collapse-formed IMBHs at $0.077~\mathrm{Gpc}^{-3}\,\mathrm{yr}^{-1}$. The mass distribution of low-spin (stellar-origin) black holes truncates at $65^{+23}_{-22}\,M_\odot$, consistent with the lower edge of the pair-instability mass gap (PIMG), although we cannot directly determine its upper boundary from current data. Informed by stellar evolution theory, we estimate the upper edge of the PIMG to be $150\pm24\,M_\odot$. We find that the observed IMBHs belong to a high-spin subpopulation, consistent with formation through successive hierarchical mergers. |
| format | Preprint |
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arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_05563 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | How do the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA's Heavy Black Holes Form? No evidence for core-collapse Intermediate-mass black holes in GWTC-4 Xia, Fan-Xiao-Yu Wang, Yuan-Zhu Qin, Ying High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics Astrophysics of Galaxies Solar and Stellar Astrophysics We investigate the population properties of binary black holes (BBHs) from the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA collaboration, focusing especially on those in the high-mass range, using the newly released GWTC-4 catalog. For the first time, we search for a subpopulation of low-spin intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) that would indicate formation via stellar core collapse. With the currently available catalog, we find no evidence for such a subpopulation, and set a 90\% upper limit on the merger rate of collapse-formed IMBHs at $0.077~\mathrm{Gpc}^{-3}\,\mathrm{yr}^{-1}$. The mass distribution of low-spin (stellar-origin) black holes truncates at $65^{+23}_{-22}\,M_\odot$, consistent with the lower edge of the pair-instability mass gap (PIMG), although we cannot directly determine its upper boundary from current data. Informed by stellar evolution theory, we estimate the upper edge of the PIMG to be $150\pm24\,M_\odot$. We find that the observed IMBHs belong to a high-spin subpopulation, consistent with formation through successive hierarchical mergers. |
| title | How do the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA's Heavy Black Holes Form? No evidence for core-collapse Intermediate-mass black holes in GWTC-4 |
| topic | High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics Astrophysics of Galaxies Solar and Stellar Astrophysics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.05563 |