Impact of spin priors on the population inference of merging binary black holes

Kobayashi, Kazuya, Iwaya, Masaki, Morisaki, Soichiro, Hotokezaka, Kenta and Kinugawa, Tomoya 2026. Impact of spin priors on the population inference of merging binary black holes. Presented at: GR24, Glasgow, Scotland, 14-18 July 2025. Journal of Physics: Conference Series. , vol.3177 (1) IOP Publishing, 10.1088/1742-6596/3177/1/012078

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Abstract

Gravitational waves generated by the merger of binary black holes (BBHs) provide valuable information about the BBHs themselves. In particular, the spin distribution is a crucial parameter for investigating the formation processes of BBHs. However, the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA group’s population analysis may potentially be affected by systematic errors due to the spin prior. This study examines whether such errors introduce bias into the population analysis. The results show that no bias is introduced in estimating the effective spin distribution for BBH events up to O2. However, when posterior samples are derived from prior samples that significantly deviate from the population, population analysis may be affected. Therefore, when considering a subpopulation model for large spins, attention must be paid to the choice of spin prior to each event.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item - published (Paper)
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Physics and Astronomy
Additional Information:	License information from Publisher: LICENSE 1: URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, Type: cc-by
Publisher:	IOP Publishing
ISSN:	1742-6588
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	8 April 2026
Last Modified:	02 Aug 2026 08:17
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/186261

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