Population of Merging Compact Binaries Inferred Using Gravitational Waves through GWTC-3 Vrije Universiteit Brussel KU Leuven Universiteit Antwerpen Universiteit Gent
We report on the population properties of compact binary mergers inferred from gravitational-wave observations of these systems during the first three LIGO-Virgo observing runs. The Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog 3 (GWTC-3) contains signals consistent with three classes of binary mergers: binary black hole, binary neutron star, and neutron star–black hole mergers. We infer the binary neutron star merger rate to be between 10 and ...