{
  "abstract": "The latest GWTC-5 release from the LIGO–Virgo–KAGRA (LVK) collaboration builds upon the known population of double compact object mergers and reveals new structures in the chirp-mass distribution of merging binary black holes (BBHs). Below 30 M ⊙ , the chirp-mass structure is roughly trimodal, with a sharp drop at ∼10 M ⊙ and a more tentative dip at ∼17 M ⊙ ; we argue that these features are well explained by recent, detailed stellar evolution models, which predict a bimodal distribution in the birth masses of black holes (BHs). This predicted distribution depends only weakly on metallicity and naturally extends to a trimodality in chirp mass, implying universal structural features that can be tested with LVK observations. Using a new compact-remnant mass prescription derived from these models, we performed rapid population synthesis simulations to test the robustness of the predicted chirp-mass structure against uncertainties in binary evolution and cosmic star formation history and compared these simulations with the current observational data. The trimodal chirp-mass distribution emerges as a robust outcome of the new remnant-mass model, persisting across adopted variations in binary and cosmic physics. In contrast, traditional BH formation models lacking a bimodal BH mass spectrum fail to reproduce the observed structure, especially around the sharp drop at ∼10 M ⊙ . Intriguingly, the central chirp-mass peak, dominated by unequal-mass BBHs, originates from a previously underappreciated formation pathway in which strong luminous blue variable winds suppress any binary interaction before the first BH forms. If isolated binary evolution dominates BBH formation below 30 M ⊙ , these universal structure features may provide powerful observational constraints on BH formation, binary evolution, and cosmic star formation, and they may also serve as standard sirens for precision cosmology.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Institute of Astronomy, KU Leuven",
    "Leuven Gravity Institute, KU Leuven",
    "Astronomisches Rechen-Institut, Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg",
    "Heidelberger Institut für Theoretische Studien",
    "Anton Pannekoek Institute of Astronomy, University of Amsterdam",
    "London Centre for Stellar Astrophysics",
    "University of Oxford",
    "Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie",
    "OzGrav: The ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery",
    "School of Physics and Astronomy, Monash University",
    "Sterrenkundig Observatorium, Universiteit Gent",
    "Department of Electrical Engineering (ESAT), STADIUS, KU Leuven",
    "Institute for Theoretical Physics, KU Leuven"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 10,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "R. Willcox",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-0674-9453"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2,
        3
      ],
      "name": "F. R. N. Schneider",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-5965-1022"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4,
        3,
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "E. Laplace",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-1009-5691"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3,
        5,
        6
      ],
      "name": "Philipp Podsiadlowski",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-8338-9677"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        7
      ],
      "name": "Kiril Maltsev",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-8060-7416"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8,
        9
      ],
      "name": "Ilya Mandel",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-6134-8946"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        10
      ],
      "name": "Pablo Marchant",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-0338-8181"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Hugues Sana",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-6656-4130"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        11,
        12,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Tjonnie G. F. Li",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-4297-7365"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        12,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Thomas Hertog",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-9021-5966"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/2zd5szjsavr2w.bib",
  "cited_by": 23,
  "doi": "10.1051/0004-6361/202557611",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "2zd5szjsavr2w",
  "issns": [
    "0004-6361",
    "1432-0746"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202557611",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "journal",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "3103|Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7204604879",
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-08-28",
  "publisher": "EDP Sciences",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/2zd5szjsavr2w.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-07T13:20:45Z",
      "native_id": "W7204604879",
      "source": "openalex",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202557611"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "astronomy",
      "origin": "openalex:3103|Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research",
      "subfield": "high-energy-astrophysics"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Good things always come in 3s: Trimodality in the binary black-hole chirp-mass distribution supports bimodal black-hole formation",
  "title_text": "Good things always come in 3s: Trimodality in the binary black-hole chirp-mass distribution supports bimodal black-hole formation",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-09T13:21:02Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/2zd5szjsavr2w",
  "venue": "Astronomy and Astrophysics",
  "versions": []
}