{
  "abstract": "Binary black holes formed dynamically in star clusters are often associated with nearly equal-mass pairing. We show that this expectation is incomplete. The more general prediction of dynamical assembly is an ordered-pairing relation in which the two black holes are drawn independently from a common one--body mass spectrum and then ordered by mass. Once the primary-mass distribution is known, this relation fixes the conditional companion distribution $p(m_2\\mid m_1)$. We validate this picture with cluster simulations. In these models, the ordered-draw relation reproduces the morphology of the mass-pairing distribution, including fixed-$m_2$ ridges that are inherited from the one--body mass spectrum: features at nearly constant secondary mass that extend over a range of primary masses and therefore correspond to decreasing $q=m_2/m_1$ as $m_1$ increases. Thus, the geometry of the mass distribution itself becomes a formation-channel diagnostic. Dynamical pairing maps peaks of the primary-mass spectrum into fixed-$m_2$ ridges with predictable amplitude, whereas isolated binary evolution more naturally produces structures at fixed $q$. Applying this test to a non-parametric reconstruction of the gravitational-wave population, we find a tentative enhancement at $m_2\\simeq 30~ M_\\odot$ for $m_1\\gtrsim 40~ M_\\odot$ that is broadly compatible with ordered pairing. Finally, we show that dynamical formation naturally explains the rapid decline of the secondary-mass distribution above $\\sim30~M_\\odot$ recently reported by the LIGO--Virgo--KAGRA Collaboration.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2610.09834",
  "author_total": 4,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Fabio Antonini"
    },
    {
      "name": "Aleksandra Olejak"
    },
    {
      "name": "Isobel Romero-Shaw"
    },
    {
      "name": "Matthew Mould"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/85c1e0k41vm7p.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2610.09834",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "85c1e0k41vm7p",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.09834",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "LicenseRef-arXiv-nonexclusive-1.0",
  "licence_label": "arXiv licence",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "astro-ph.HE"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "3103|Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7221063308",
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2610.09834",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-07",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/85c1e0k41vm7p.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:27:37Z",
      "native_id": "2610.09834",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.09834"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "astronomy",
      "origin": "arxiv:astro-ph.HE",
      "subfield": "high-energy-astrophysics"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Dynamical pairing in gravitational wave populations",
  "title_text": "Dynamical pairing in gravitational wave populations",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:27:37Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/85c1e0k41vm7p",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}