Exploring Features in the Binary Black Hole Population

Vamana is the mixture model framework that infers the chirp mass, mass ratio, and aligned spin distributions of the binary black hole population. We extend the mixing components to also model the redshift evolution of merger rate and report all the major one and two-dimensional features in the binary black hole population using the 69 gravitational wave signals detected with a false alarm rate $<1\mathrm{yr}^{-1}$ in the third Gravitational Wave Transient Catalog. Endorsing our previous report and corroborating recent report from LIGO Scientific, Virgo, and KAGRA Collaborations, we observe the chirp mass distribution has multiple peaks and a lack of mergers with chirp masses $10 \mathrm{-} 12M_\odot$. In addition, we observe aligned spins show mass dependence with heavier binaries exhibiting larger spins, mass ratio does not show a notable dependence on either the chirp mass or the aligned spin, and the redshift evolution of the merger rate for the peaks in the mass distribution is disparate. These features possibly reflect the astrophysics associated with the binary black formation channels. However, additional observations are needed to improve our limited confidence in them.