GWTC-4.0: An Introduction to Version 4.0 of the Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog

TL;DR

GWTC-4.0 is the latest release of the gravitational-wave transient catalog, documenting new gravitational wave detections and their source properties from the first part of the fourth LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA observing run, with comprehensive analysis methods and event summaries.

Contribution

This paper introduces GWTC-4.0, the updated gravitational-wave transient catalog including new detections and detailed analysis methods from recent observational data.

Findings

Includes new gravitational wave events detected during the first part of the fourth observing run.

Provides detailed source property estimates for each detected event.

Documents the analysis methods and population insights derived from the latest data.

Abstract

The Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog (GWTC) is a collection of short-duration (transient) gravitational wave signals identified by the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Collaboration in gravitational-wave data produced by the eponymous detectors. The catalog provides information about the identified candidates, such as the arrival time and amplitude of the signal and properties of the signal's source as inferred from the observational data. GWTC is the data release of this dataset and version 4.0 extends the catalog to include observations made during the first part of the fourth LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA observing run up until 2024 January 31. This paper marks an introduction to a collection of articles related to this version of the catalog, GWTC-4.0. The collection of articles accompanying the catalog provides documentation of the methods used to analyze the data, summaries of the catalog of events, observational measurements drawn from the population, and detailed discussions of selected candidates