Merging stellar-mass binary black holes

The LIGO and Virgo detectors have directly observed gravitational waves from mergers of pairs of stellar-mass black holes, along with a smaller number of mergers involving neutron stars. These observations raise the hope that compact object mergers could be used as a probe of stellar and binary evolution, and perhaps of stellar dynamics. This colloquium-style article summarises the existing observations, describes theoretical predictions for formation channels of merging stellar-mass black-hole binaries along with their rates and observable properties, and presents some prospects for gravitational-wave astronomy. (c) 2022 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Automated summary

This article summarizes the observations from the LIGO and Virgo detectors on gravitational waves, particularly those generated by mergers of stellar-mass black holes and neutron stars. It provides theoretical predictions on the formation channels, rates, and observable properties of merging stellar-mass black hole binaries, and discusses the prospects of gravitational-wave astronomy.