WASHINGTON — The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) has found the loudest gravitational-wave signal to date. This is a big step forward in science. On January 14, 2025, scientists saw an event called GW250114 that gives strong new evidence for predictions made by some of the greatest minds in physics, including as Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking, and Roy Kerr. The results were published in Physical Review Letters on September 10, 2025.
The signal came from two black holes merging. Each black hole had a mass around 32 times that of our Sun. Scientists called the occurrence “a whisper becoming a shout” because the signal was so clear that they could do tests on black hole physics that had never been done before.
Confirming Important Theories About Black Holes
The new information directly backs up several cutting-edge ideas:
Stephen Hawking’s Area Theorem: The observation supported Hawking’s prediction that the overall horizon area of a merging black hole can only grow. The two black holes had a combined horizon area of about 93,000 square miles. The new, bigger black hole that formed from their merger had a horizon area of about 154,000 square miles, which fits exactly with Hawking’s hypothesis.
Roy Kerr’s Model: The data also supported Kerr’s 1963 model, which says that a spinning black hole can be completely characterized by just two things: its mass and its spin. Researchers confirmed that the leftover black hole followed this elegant and simple concept by looking at the “ringdown” tones, which are the last vibrations of spacetime as the new black hole settles.
What this means for the future of physics
The GW250114 event is a big step forward for the area of gravitational-wave astronomy. Patricia Schmidt said that the signal was three times louder than any previous observation, which made “precision astronomy with gravitational waves” possible. LIGO has come a long way since it could only monitor ripples in spacetime that were much tiny than a proton. This new level of sensitivity shows how far LIGO has come. Albert Einstein himself thought this was impossible.
The results also suggest that there is a deeper link between quantum physics and general relativity. Scientists are getting hints that could help them come up with a quantum theory of gravity, which is one of the biggest challenges in modern physics that hasn’t been addressed yet. “Black hole science was once just a bunch of math ideas,” said one researcher. “Now we can see these amazing things happening.” Scientists will be able to study the basic rules of nature in harsh conditions when LIGO and similar instruments get better in the future. These experiments will become even more accurate and provide scientists a new view of the world.