On 2023 November 23 the two LIGO observatories both detected GW231123, a gravitational-wave signal consistent with the merger of two black holes with masses 137+23−18M⊙ and 101+22−50M⊙ (90\% credible intervals), at luminosity distance 0.7-4.1 Gpc and redshift of 0.40+0.27−0.25, and a network signal-to-noise ratio of ∼20.7. Both black holes exhibit high spins, 0.9+0.10−0.19 and 0.80+0.20−0.52 respectively. A massive black hole remnant is supported by an independent ringdown analysis. Some properties of GW231123 are subject to large systematic uncertainties, as indicated by differences in inferred parameters between signal models. The primary black hole lies within or above the theorized mass gap where black holes between 60-130 M⊙ should be rare due to pair instability mechanisms, while the secondary spans the gap. The observation of GW231123 therefore suggests the formation of black holes from channels beyond standard stellar collapse, and that intermediate-mass black holes of mass ∼200 M⊙ form through gravitational-wave driven mergers.

Abac, A., Abouelfettouh, I., Acernese, F., Ackley, K., Adamcewicz, C., Adhicary, S., et al. (2025). GW231123: A Binary Black Hole Merger with Total Mass 190–265 M⊙. THE ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL LETTERS, 993(1) [10.3847/2041-8213/ae0c9c].

GW231123: A Binary Black Hole Merger with Total Mass 190–265 M⊙

Carpinelli, M.;Colombo, A.;Mancarella, M.;Renzini, A. I.;Rozza, D.;
2025

Abstract

On 2023 November 23 the two LIGO observatories both detected GW231123, a gravitational-wave signal consistent with the merger of two black holes with masses 137+23−18M⊙ and 101+22−50M⊙ (90\% credible intervals), at luminosity distance 0.7-4.1 Gpc and redshift of 0.40+0.27−0.25, and a network signal-to-noise ratio of ∼20.7. Both black holes exhibit high spins, 0.9+0.10−0.19 and 0.80+0.20−0.52 respectively. A massive black hole remnant is supported by an independent ringdown analysis. Some properties of GW231123 are subject to large systematic uncertainties, as indicated by differences in inferred parameters between signal models. The primary black hole lies within or above the theorized mass gap where black holes between 60-130 M⊙ should be rare due to pair instability mechanisms, while the secondary spans the gap. The observation of GW231123 therefore suggests the formation of black holes from channels beyond standard stellar collapse, and that intermediate-mass black holes of mass ∼200 M⊙ form through gravitational-wave driven mergers.
Articolo in rivista - Articolo scientifico
gravitational waves
English
27-ott-2025
2025
993
1
L25
open
Abac, A., Abouelfettouh, I., Acernese, F., Ackley, K., Adamcewicz, C., Adhicary, S., et al. (2025). GW231123: A Binary Black Hole Merger with Total Mass 190–265 M⊙. THE ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL LETTERS, 993(1) [10.3847/2041-8213/ae0c9c].
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
Abac-2025-Astrophys J Lett-VoR.pdf

accesso aperto

Tipologia di allegato: Publisher’s Version (Version of Record, VoR)
Licenza: Creative Commons
Dimensione 9.79 MB
Formato Adobe PDF
9.79 MB Adobe PDF Visualizza/Apri
Abac-2025-Astrophys J Lett-preprint.pdf

accesso aperto

Tipologia di allegato: Submitted Version (Pre-print)
Licenza: Creative Commons
Dimensione 7.54 MB
Formato Adobe PDF
7.54 MB Adobe PDF Visualizza/Apri

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10281/594545
Citazioni
  • Scopus ND
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? ND
Social impact