@article{1755b5e922c94089ab10968331c2ebfc,
title = "GW250114: Testing Hawking{\textquoteright}s Area Law and the Kerr Nature of Black Holes",
abstract = "The gravitational-wave signal GW250114 was observed by the two LIGO detectors with a network matched-filter signal-to-noise ratio of 80. The signal was emitted by the coalescence of two black holes with near-equal masses (Formula presented) and (Formula presented), and small spins (Formula presented) (90\% credibility) and negligible eccentricity (Formula presented). Postmerger data excluding the peak region are consistent with the dominant quadrupolar (Formula presented) mode of a Kerr black hole and its first overtone. We constrain the modes{\textquoteright} frequencies to (Formula presented) of the Kerr spectrum, providing a test of the remnant{\textquoteright}s Kerr nature. We also examine Hawking{\textquoteright}s area law, also known as the second law of black hole mechanics, which states that the total area of the black hole event horizons cannot decrease with time. A range of analyses that exclude up to five of the strongest merger cycles confirm that the remnant area is larger than the sum of the initial areas to high credibility.",
author = "\{LIGO Scientific, Virgo, and KAGRA Collaborations\} and Abac, \{A. G.\} and I. Abouelfettouh and F. Acernese and K. Ackley and C. Adamcewicz and S. Adhicary and D. Adhikari and N. Adhikari and Adhikari, \{R. X.\} and Adkins, \{V. K.\} and S. Afroz and A. Agapito and D. Agarwal and M. Agathos and N. Aggarwal and S. Aggarwal and Aguiar, \{O. D.\} and Ahrend, \{I. L.\} and L. Aiello and A. Ain and P. Ajith and T. Akutsu and S. Al-Kershi and S. Al-Shammari and S. Albanesi and W. Ali and C. All{\'e}n{\'e} and A. Allocca and Altin, \{P. A.\} and S. Alvarez-Lopez and W. Amar and O. Amarasinghe and A. Amato and F. Amicucci and C. Amra and A. Ananyeva and Anderson, \{S. B.\} and Anderson, \{W. G.\} and M. Andia and M. Ando and M. Andr{\'e}s-Carcasona and T. Andri{\'c} and J. Anglin and S. Ansoldi and Antelis, \{J. M.\} and S. Antier and M. Aoumi and Appavuravther, \{E. Z.\} and S. Appert and Apple, \{S. K.\} and K. Arai and A. Araya and Araya, \{M. C.\} and \{Arca Sedda\}, M. and Areeda, \{J. S.\} and N. Aritomi and F. Armato and S. Armstrong and N. Arnaud and M. Arogeti and Aronson, \{S. M.\} and G. Ashton and Y. Aso and L. Asprea and M. Assiduo and \{Assis de Souza Melo\}, S. and Aston, \{S. M.\} and P. Astone and F. Attadio and F. Aubin and K. AultONeal and G. Avallone and Avila, \{E. A.\} and S. Babak and C. Badger and S. Bae and S. Bagnasco and L. Baiotti and R. Bajpai and T. Baka and Baker, \{A. M.\} and Baker, \{K. A.\} and T. Baker and G. Baldi and N. Baldicchi and M. Ball and G. Ballardin and Ballmer, \{S. W.\} and S. Banagiri and B. Banerjee and D. Bankar and Baptiste, \{T. M.\} and P. Baral and M. Baratti and Barayoga, \{J. C.\} and Barish, \{B. C.\} and D. Barker and N. Barman and P. Barneo and F. Barone and B. Barr and L. Barsotti and M. Barsuglia and D. Barta and Bartoletti, \{A. M.\} and Barton, \{M. A.\} and I. Bartos and A. Basalaev and R. Bassiri and A. Basti and M. Bawaj and P. Baxi and Bayley, \{J. C.\} and Baylor, \{A. C.\} and Baynard, \{P. A.\} and M. Bazzan and Bedakihale, \{V. M.\} and F. Beirnaert and M. Bejger and D. Belardinelli and Bell, \{A. S.\} and Bellie, \{D. S.\} and L. Bellizzi and W. Benoit and I. Bentara and Bentley, \{J. D.\} and \{Ben Yaala\}, M. and S. Bera and F. Bergamin and Berger, \{B. K.\} and S. Bernuzzi and M. Beroiz and Berry, \{C. P.L.\} and D. Bersanetti and T. Bertheas and A. Bertolini and J. Betzwieser and D. Beveridge and G. Bevilacqua and N. Bevins and S. Bhagwat and R. Bhandare and R. Bhatt and D. Bhattacharjee and S. Bhattacharyya and S. Bhaumik and V. Biancalana and A. Bianchi and Bilenko, \{I. A.\} and G. Billingsley and A. Binetti and S. Bini and C. Binu and S. Biot and O. Birnholtz and S. Biscoveanu and A. Bisht and M. Bitossi and Bizouard, \{M. A.\} and S. Blaber and Blackburn, \{J. K.\} and Blagg, \{L. A.\} and Blair, \{C. D.\} and Blair, \{D. G.\} and N. Bode and N. Boettner and G. Boileau and M. Boldrini and Bolingbroke, \{G. N.\} and A. Bolliand and Bonavena, \{L. D.\} and R. Bondarescu and F. Bondu and E. Bonilla and Bonilla, \{M. S.\} and A. Bonino and R. Bonnand and A. Borchers and S. Borhanian and V. Boschi and S. Bose and V. Bossilkov and Y. Bothra and A. Boudon and L. Bourg and M. Boyle and A. Bozzi and C. Bradaschia and Brady, \{P. R.\} and A. Branch and M. Branchesi and I. Braun and T. Briant and A. Brillet and M. Brinkmann and P. Brockill and E. Brockmueller and Brooks, \{A. F.\} and Brown, \{B. C.\} and M. Piarulli",
note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2025 authors. Published by the American Physical Society.",
year = "2025",
month = sep,
day = "12",
doi = "10.1103/kw5g-d732",
language = "English",
volume = "135",
journal = "Physical Review Letters",
issn = "0031-9007",
number = "11",
}