Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Spectral-sirens inference enables the extraction of cosmological parameters from gravitational-wave data alone, without electromagnetic counterparts or galaxy catalogs. We introduce new parametric mass functions for the binary black hole population built as linear combination of truncated power-laws that capture significant structure across the mass spectrum. On analysing the latest gravitational-wave transient catalog, GWTC-4.0, we show that power-laws-only population models constrain the Hubble constant to H 0 = 53.3 +14.0 -10.8 km s -1 Mpc -1 at 68% confidence level. After probing the robustness of the results with respect to several modelling assumptions, we further test alternative cosmological models, establishing competitive constraints on modified gravitational-wave propagation, while bounds on the dark energy equation-of-state parameters remain uninformative. Projecting to the future O5 observing run with larger datasets at higher redshifts, we forecast substantial improvements in H 0 and modified propagation parameters. Our results highlight the strong interplay between the black hole mass distribution and inferred cosmology.
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,290
OpenAlex ID: W7134845269