GWTC-4.0: Updating the gravitational-wave transient catalog with observations from the first part of the fourth LIGO–Virgo–KAGRA observing run

Abac, A. G., Abouelfettouh, I., Acernese, F., Ackley, K., Adamcewicz, C., Dooley, Katherine ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1636-0233, Fairhurst, Stephen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8480-1961, Gottel, Alexandre ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6215-4641, Grote, Hartmut ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0797-3943, Kokeyama, Keiko ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2896-1992, Macleod, Duncan ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1395-8694, Raymond, Vivien ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0066-0095, Sathyaprakash, Bangalore ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3845-7586 and Sutton, Patrick ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1614-3922 2026. GWTC-4.0: Updating the gravitational-wave transient catalog with observations from the first part of the fourth LIGO–Virgo–KAGRA observing run. The Astrophysical Journal Letters 1004 (2) , L22. 10.3847/2041-8213/ae2c74

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Abstract

Version 4.0 of the Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog (GWTC-4.0) adds new candidates detected by the LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA observatories through the first part of the fourth observing run (O4a: 2023 May 24 15:00:00 to 2024 January 16 16:00:00 UTC) and a preceding engineering run. In these new data, we find 128 compact binary coalescence candidates that are identified by at least one of our search algorithms with a probability of astrophysical origin pastro ≥ 0.5 and that are not vetoed during event validation. We also provide detailed source property measurements for 86 of these that have a false-alarm rate <1 yr−1. Based on the inferred component masses, these candidates are consistent with signals from binary black holes (BBHs) and neutron star–black hole binaries (GW230518_125908 and GW230529_181500). Median-inferred component masses of BBHs in the catalog now range from 5.79M⊙ (GW230627_015337) to 137 M⊙ (GW231123_135430), while GW231123_135430 was probably produced by the most massive binary observed in the catalog. For the first time, we have discovered BBH signals with network signal-to-noise ratio exceeding 30, GW230814_230901 and GW231226_101520, enabling high-fidelity studies of the waveforms and astrophysical properties of these systems. Combined with the 90 candidates included in GWTC-3.0, the catalog now contains 218 candidates with pastro ≥ 0.5 and not otherwise vetoed, more than doubling the size of the catalog and further opening our view of the gravitational-wave Universe.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Physics and Astronomy
Additional Information:	Full list of authors available: https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ae2c74 License information from Publisher: LICENSE 1: URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, Type: cc-by
Publisher:	American Astronomical Society
ISSN:	2041-8205
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	26 June 2026
Date of Acceptance:	12 December 2025
Last Modified:	02 Aug 2026 18:24
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/187749

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