Search for Compact Binary Coalescences with Sub-solar Mass Components in Data from the Second Part of LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA's Fourth Observing Run
Abstract
We report on a gravitational wave search for compact binary coalescences with secondary mass between 0.2 M and 1 M and primary mass between 0.2 M and 10 M, restricting the component mass ratio to lie between 0.1 and 1. The analysis uses data collected by the LIGO and Virgo detectors between 2024 April 10 15:00:00 and 2025 January 28 17:00:00, the second part of the fourth observing run of the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Collaboration. Results from two out of three search pipelines show outlier candidates, but not at a sufficient level of significance to provide evidence for detection. We report the combined sensitivity of the current searches over the first and second parts of the observing run to the target sub-solar mass (SSM) black hole (BH) population, as well as to neutron star (NS) binaries with one or more sub-solar component. We place upper limits on the merger rate of SSM BHs, ranging from 50 Gpc−3 yr−1 to~5000 Gpc−3 yr−1 (90% confidence) for different component mass combinations. We use the merger rate limits to constrain two illustrative dark matter (DM) scenarios that can form SSM compact objects: primordial BHs, and dark BHs forming in a dissipative DM model. Our search limits the fraction of DM in primordial BHs, assuming a monochromatic mass distribution, to be ≤ (0.018-0.032) at 1 M, and ≤ (0.10-0.18) at 0.35 M for early-forming binaries; or to be less than 1 at masses above (0.62-0.74) M for late-forming binaries. For the dissipative model, we constrain the fraction of DM for a range of minimum dark black hole masses below 1 M to be as low as (1.0-1.1) x 10−5; we also exclude minimum masses above (0.62-0.74) M, if dark BHs constitute all of the DM. For binary NSs that include sub-solar mass components, assuming a simple, fixed population model we find a merger rate upper limit of 249 Gpc−3 yr−1.
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BibTeX
@misc{collaboration2026search,
title = {{Search for Compact Binary Coalescences with Sub-solar Mass Components in Data from the Second Part of LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA's Fourth Observing Run}},
author = {The LIGO Scientific Collaboration and the Virgo Collaboration and the KAGRA Collaboration and A. G. Abac and A. Abe and I. Abouelfettouh and F. Acernese and K. Ackley and A. Adam and S. Adhicary and D. Adhikari and R. X. Adhikari and V. K. Adkins and S. Afroz and A. Agapito and D. Agarwal and M. Agathos and N. Aggarwal and S. Aggarwal and O. D. Aguiar and I. -L. Ahrend and L. Aiello and A. Ain and P. Ajith and T. Akutsu and L. Albers and W. Ali and S. Al-Kershi and C. Allan and C. Allene and A. Allocca and S. Al-Shammari and J. A. Alvarez and S. Alvarez-Lopez and W. Amar and O. Amarasinghe and A. Amato and F. Amicucci and C. Amra and A. B. Anand and C. Anand and A. Ananyeva and S. B. Anderson and W. G. Anderson and M. Andia and M. Ando and F. Andrade-Oliveira and M. Andrés-Carcasona and J. L. Andrey and T. Andrić and J. Anglin and J. Anna and J. M. Antelis and S. Antier and T. Aoki and M. Aoumi and E. Z. Appavuravther and E. A. Appelt and S. Appert and S. K. Apple},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.20276},
eprint = {2610.20276},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.20276},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Search for Compact Binary Coalescences with Sub-solar Mass Components in Data from the Second Part of LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA's Fourth Observing Run
AU - The LIGO Scientific Collaboration
AU - the Virgo Collaboration
AU - the KAGRA Collaboration
AU - A. G. Abac
AU - A. Abe
AU - I. Abouelfettouh
AU - F. Acernese
AU - K. Ackley
AU - A. Adam
AU - S. Adhicary
AU - D. Adhikari
AU - R. X. Adhikari
AU - V. K. Adkins
AU - S. Afroz
AU - A. Agapito
AU - D. Agarwal
AU - M. Agathos
AU - N. Aggarwal
AU - S. Aggarwal
AU - O. D. Aguiar
AU - I. -L. Ahrend
AU - L. Aiello
AU - A. Ain
AU - P. Ajith
AU - T. Akutsu
AU - L. Albers
AU - W. Ali
AU - S. Al-Kershi
AU - C. Allan
AU - C. Allene
AU - A. Allocca
AU - S. Al-Shammari
AU - J. A. Alvarez
AU - S. Alvarez-Lopez
AU - W. Amar
AU - O. Amarasinghe
AU - A. Amato
AU - F. Amicucci
AU - C. Amra
AU - A. B. Anand
AU - C. Anand
AU - A. Ananyeva
AU - S. B. Anderson
AU - W. G. Anderson
AU - M. Andia
AU - M. Ando
AU - F. Andrade-Oliveira
AU - M. Andrés-Carcasona
AU - J. L. Andrey
AU - T. Andrić
AU - J. Anglin
AU - J. Anna
AU - J. M. Antelis
AU - S. Antier
AU - T. Aoki
AU - M. Aoumi
AU - E. Z. Appavuravther
AU - E. A. Appelt
AU - S. Appert
AU - S. K. Apple
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/14
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.20276
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.20276
AB - We report on a gravitational wave search for compact binary coalescences with secondary mass between 0.2 M and 1 M and primary mass between 0.2 M and 10 M, restricting the component mass ratio to lie between 0.1 and 1. The analysis uses data collected by the LIGO and Virgo detectors between 2024 April 10 15:00:00 and 2025 January 28 17:00:00, the second part of the fourth observing run of the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Collaboration. Results from two out of three search pipelines show outlier candidates, but not at a sufficient level of significance to provide evidence for detection. We report the combined sensitivity of the current searches over the first and second parts of the observing run to the target sub-solar mass (SSM) black hole (BH) population, as well as to neutron star (NS) binaries with one or more sub-solar component. We place upper limits on the merger rate of SSM BHs, ranging from 50 Gpc^−3 yr^−1 to~5000 Gpc^−3 yr^−1 (90% confidence) for different component mass combinations. We use the merger rate limits to constrain two illustrative dark matter (DM) scenarios that can form SSM compact objects: primordial BHs, and dark BHs forming in a dissipative DM model. Our search limits the fraction of DM in primordial BHs, assuming a monochromatic mass distribution, to be ≤ (0.018-0.032) at 1 M, and ≤ (0.10-0.18) at 0.35 M for early-forming binaries; or to be less than 1 at masses above (0.62-0.74) M for late-forming binaries. For the dissipative model, we constrain the fraction of DM for a range of minimum dark black hole masses below 1 M to be as low as (1.0-1.1) x 10^−5; we also exclude minimum masses above (0.62-0.74) M, if dark BHs constitute all of the DM. For binary NSs that include sub-solar mass components, assuming a simple, fixed population model we find a merger rate upper limit of 249 Gpc^−3 yr^−1.
ER -