The population of merging compact binaries inferred using gravitational waves through GWTC-3: Part 2, Detailed Binary Black Hole Models

With the release of the third gravitational wave transient catalog (GWTC-3) LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA has now reported many tens of compact binary mergers detected with gravitational waves that have properties consistent with binary black holes (BBHs), binary neutron stars (BNSs), and neutron star–black hole binaries (NSBHs). Thanks to the growing sample size, we are now able to resolve more details in the BBH population, and begin to resolve the BNS and NSBH populations. In this talk, we present detailed analyses focusing on the detections we confidently identify as BBHs, and the inferred properties of their population. We use models of varying complexity to infer the astrophysical distribution of BBH mass and spins, and to constrain the BBH merger rate and how it evolves with redshift. Additionally we discuss the astrophysical implications of these findings and how they relate to our understanding of BH formation and evolution.