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GW231123: a Binary Black Hole Merger with Total Mass 190–265 M⊙

The collaboration interpreted GW231123 as a black-hole merger with a total source-frame mass of 190–265 solar masses, the most massive such merger it had reported. Later peer-reviewed analyses found that component masses and spins depend strongly on waveform and possible signal-overlap assumptions.

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Stable ID
gw231123-massive-black-hole-merger-2025
Revision
gw231123-massive-black-hole-merger-2025.v1
Field
Astronomy · Gravitational-wave and black-hole astrophysics
Evidence
Tier 1 · Peer reviewed: Yes
Record state
Provisional · Peer-reviewed detection; interpretation model dependent
Last checked

AI role

No generative-AI assistance was disclosed for the primary merger claim; a separate lensing analysis used deep-learning inference.

Record details

Problem or result
Characterizing a short, high-mass gravitational-wave signal with strongly model-dependent source properties
Authors
LIGO Scientific, Virgo and KAGRA Collaborations
Institutions
International LIGO–Virgo–KAGRA network
Result date
Primary preprint July 10, 2025; interpretation updated May 26, 2026

Why it matters

A secure characterization would probe how very massive black holes form and grow through hierarchical mergers or other channels.

Limits

The detection is secure, but the event is extremely short and its exact source properties remain model dependent. A two-signal model is favoured in one likelihood comparison but has low prior probability and only modest background significance, while other studies attribute the discrepancies to waveform systematics.

Sources

  1. Primary: Peer-reviewed Astrophysical Journal Letters version of record
  2. Primary: LIGO–Virgo–KAGRA primary analysis
  3. Independent: Peer-reviewed overlapping-signal analysis
  4. Independent: Peer-reviewed waveform-systematics analysis
  5. Independent: LIGO Lab result context

Correction and revision history

  1. July 22, 2026 — Added the peer-reviewed ApJ Letters version of record. A new formation-channel preprint was reviewed but does not alter the entry’s model-dependent interpretation caveat.

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