GWTC-5.0: Constraints on the Cosmic Expansion Rate and Modified Gravitational-wave Propagation
Abstract
We employ 236 gravitational-wave (GW) sources in the fifth LIGO--Virgo--KAGRA Collaboration (LVK) Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog (GWTC-5.0) to estimate the Hubble constant H0. We compare the luminosity distance measured from GWs to the redshift inferred i) using features in the mass spectrum, and ii) using statistical host galaxy association. Probing the relationship between source luminosity distances and redshifts obtained in this way yields constraints on cosmological parameters. We estimate H0 = 71.7−7.5+9.4 km s−1 Mpc−1 (median with 68% symmetric credible interval). This combines information from the source-frame mass distribution with the H0 measurement from GW170817 and its electromagnetic counterpart as well as galaxy catalog information from Dark Energy Survey Year 6 (DES-Y6). We improve over the GWTC-4.0 measurement by using more GW sources, some with significantly smaller sky localization volumes, which leads to a reduction by 22.0% of the H0 uncertainty and a reconstructed mass distribution with lower uncertainties. We also constrain deviations from general relativity (GR) which affect GW propagation, specifically that modify the luminosity distance inferred from the GW signal. We find no departures from GR in parameterized tests of GW propagation.
Related
- GWTC-4.0: Constraints on the Cosmic Expansion Rate and Modified Gravitational-wave Propagation
- Constraints on the Cosmic Expansion Rate Using the DECam Local Volume Exploration Survey and the Fifth Gravitational Wave Transient Catalog
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- Nanohertz Gravitational-Wave Constraints on Supermassive Binary Black Holes at Cosmic Dawn
- A unified cosmographic reconstruction of the Hubble expansion: Bayesian constraints on dark energy and modified-gravity diagnostics
BibTeX
@misc{collaboration2026gwtc50,
title = {{GWTC-5.0: Constraints on the Cosmic Expansion Rate and Modified Gravitational-wave Propagation}},
author = {The LIGO Scientific collaboration and The LIGO Scientific collaboration and The LIGO Scientific collaboration and Adrian 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 Nancy 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. Allene and A Allocca and S. Al-Shammari and J. A. Alvarez and S. Álvarez-López and W. Amar and O. Amarasinghe and A. Amato and F. Amicucci and Claude 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. Appelt and S. Appert and S. K. Apple and K Arai},
howpublished = {arXiv (Cornell University)},
year = {2026},
month = may,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2605.27227},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.27227},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - GWTC-5.0: Constraints on the Cosmic Expansion Rate and Modified Gravitational-wave Propagation
AU - The LIGO Scientific collaboration
AU - The LIGO Scientific collaboration
AU - The LIGO Scientific collaboration
AU - Adrian 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 - Nancy 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. Allene
AU - A Allocca
AU - S. Al-Shammari
AU - J. A. Alvarez
AU - S. Álvarez-López
AU - W. Amar
AU - O. Amarasinghe
AU - A. Amato
AU - F. Amicucci
AU - Claude 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. Appelt
AU - S. Appert
AU - S. K. Apple
AU - K Arai
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/05/26
PB - arXiv (Cornell University)
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2605.27227
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.27227
AB - We employ 236 gravitational-wave (GW) sources in the fifth LIGO--Virgo--KAGRA Collaboration (LVK) Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog (GWTC-5.0) to estimate the Hubble constant H_0. We compare the luminosity distance measured from GWs to the redshift inferred i) using features in the mass spectrum, and ii) using statistical host galaxy association. Probing the relationship between source luminosity distances and redshifts obtained in this way yields constraints on cosmological parameters. We estimate H_0 = 71.7_−7.5^+9.4 km s^−1 Mpc^−1 (median with 68% symmetric credible interval). This combines information from the source-frame mass distribution with the H_0 measurement from GW170817 and its electromagnetic counterpart as well as galaxy catalog information from Dark Energy Survey Year 6 (DES-Y6). We improve over the GWTC-4.0 measurement by using more GW sources, some with significantly smaller sky localization volumes, which leads to a reduction by 22.0% of the H_0 uncertainty and a reconstructed mass distribution with lower uncertainties. We also constrain deviations from general relativity (GR) which affect GW propagation, specifically that modify the luminosity distance inferred from the GW signal. We find no departures from GR in parameterized tests of GW propagation.
SN - 2331-8422
ER -