Skip to content
DraconiticResearch
Search Sources API
197,768 studies31 sourcesUpdated 1 h ago
Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0The Astrophysical Journal

Secondary-mass Features Improve Spectral-siren H ₀ Constraints

  • Yin-Jie Li1
  • Yi-Ying Wang1
  • Yuan-Zhu Wang2
  • Shao-Peng Tang1
  • Yi-Zhong Fan1,3
  1. 1Key Laboratory of Dark Matter and Space Astronomy
  2. 2Zhejiang University of Technology
  3. 3University of Science and Technology of China
Open at sourcePDFDOICite

Abstract

Gravitational-wave (GW) signals from compact binary coalescences (CBCs) enable independent measurements of the Hubble constant H ₀ via the spectral siren method, which critically depends on an accurate model of the source-frame mass distribution. While the primary-mass function has been extensively studied, the impact of the secondary-mass distribution on cosmological inference has been largely overlooked. Here, we perform a joint inference of population and cosmological parameters using 142 confident CBC detections from GWTC-4.0, adopting a new parametric model that flexibly describes features in both the component-mass spectrum and the pairing function, with particular emphasis on the secondary masses. We find H 0 = 71 . 4 − 13.4 + 13.8 km s − 1 Mpc − 1 (68% CL) from spectral sirens alone, and H 0 = 73 . 5 − 7.2 + 9.2 km s − 1 Mpc − 1 when combined with the bright siren GW170817. Compared to the standard LIGO–Virgo–KAGRA Collaboration Fullpop-4.0 analysis, these constraints represent improvements of ∼29.8% and ∼22.2% in H ₀ uncertainty, respectively. The enhanced precision is driven by previously unmodeled features, including peaks near 18 M ⊙ and 65 M ⊙ as well as mass-dependent pairing transitions at 28 M ⊙ and 52 M ⊙ . Our results demonstrate that the secondary-mass function is also a key ingredient for precision standard-siren cosmology.

Related

  1. XRISM Resolve Spectroscopy of GX 5-1: Constraints on Iron Spectral Features in a Luminous Neutron-Star Binary
    Tasuku Hayashi, Shinya Yamada, Shun Inoue +11
    arXivPreprintCC BY 4.0Full textHigh-energy astrophysicsarXiv
  2. A weakly modelled view of the joint compact-binary mass plane: population structure and spectral-siren cosmology
    Viola de Renzis, Alessandro Agapito, Michele Mancarella
    HALPreprintCC0Full textCosmologyHigh-energy astrophysicsHALarXiv
  3. Constraints on Primordial Oscillatory Features from the Power Spectrum and Bispectrum of Redshift-Space Galaxy Clustering in DESI DR1
    Shi-Fan Chen, Anton Chudaykin, Mikhail M. Ivanov +2
    arXivPreprintCC BY 4.0Full textCosmologyarXiv
  4. Asymmetric nightside CO2 features, inefficient heat transport, and precise evolutionary constraints: Spectroscopic phase curves reveal the past and present of a white dwarf-brown dwarf binary
    Daphne Broski-Laing, Yifan Zhou, Joshua D. Lothringer +10
    arXivPreprintCC BY 4.0Full textPlanetary science & exoplanetsSolar & stellar physicsarXiv
  5. Spectral sirens cosmology from binary black holes populations with sharper mass features
    Tom Bertheas, Vasco Gennari, Danièle Steer +1
    Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle PhysicsPeer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Full textGeneral astronomyGravitation & general relativityHAL

Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{li2026secondarymass,
  title = {{Secondary-mass Features Improve Spectral-siren H ₀ Constraints}},
  author = {Yin-Jie Li and Yi-Ying Wang and Yuan-Zhu Wang and Shao-Peng Tang and Yi-Zhong Fan},
  journal = {The Astrophysical Journal},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.3847/1538-4357/aea3fc},
  url = {https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/aea3fc},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Secondary-mass Features Improve Spectral-siren H ₀ Constraints
AU  - Yin-Jie Li
AU  - Yi-Ying Wang
AU  - Yuan-Zhu Wang
AU  - Shao-Peng Tang
AU  - Yi-Zhong Fan
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/09
JO  - The Astrophysical Journal
DO  - 10.3847/1538-4357/aea3fc
UR  - https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/aea3fc
AB  - Gravitational-wave (GW) signals from compact binary coalescences (CBCs) enable independent measurements of the Hubble constant H ₀ via the spectral siren method, which critically depends on an accurate model of the source-frame mass distribution. While the primary-mass function has been extensively studied, the impact of the secondary-mass distribution on cosmological inference has been largely overlooked. Here, we perform a joint inference of population and cosmological parameters using 142 confident CBC detections from GWTC-4.0, adopting a new parametric model that flexibly describes features in both the component-mass spectrum and the pairing function, with particular emphasis on the secondary masses. We find H 0 = 71 . 4 − 13.4 + 13.8 km s − 1 Mpc − 1 (68% CL) from spectral sirens alone, and H 0 = 73 . 5 − 7.2 + 9.2 km s − 1 Mpc − 1 when combined with the bright siren GW170817. Compared to the standard LIGO–Virgo–KAGRA Collaboration Fullpop-4.0 analysis, these constraints represent improvements of ∼29.8% and ∼22.2% in H ₀ uncertainty, respectively. The enhanced precision is driven by previously unmodeled features, including peaks near 18 M ⊙ and 65 M ⊙ as well as mass-dependent pairing transitions at 28 M ⊙ and 52 M ⊙ . Our results demonstrate that the secondary-mass function is also a key ingredient for precision standard-siren cosmology.
SN  - 0004-637X
SN  - 1538-4357
ER  -