Nonparametric analysis of correlations in the binary black hole population with LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA data

Kavli Affiliate: Salvatore Vitale

| First 5 Authors: Jack Heinzel, Matthew Mould, Salvatore Vitale, ,

| Summary:

Formation channels of merging compact binaries imprint themselves on the
distributions and correlations of their source parameters. But current
understanding of this population observed in gravitational waves is hindered by
simplified parametric models. We overcome these limitations using PixelPop
[Heinzel et al. (2024)]-our multidimensional Bayesian nonparametric population
model. We analyze data from the first three LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA observing runs and
make high resolution, minimally modeled measurements of the pairwise
distributions of binary black hole masses, redshifts, and spins. There is no
evidence that the mass spectrum evolves over redshift and we show that such
measurements are fundamentally limited by the detector horizon. We find support
for correlations of the spin distribution with binary mass ratio and redshift,
but at reduced significance compared to overly constraining parametric models.
Confident data-driven conclusions about population-level correlations using
very flexible models like PixelPop will require more informative
gravitational-wave catalogs.

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