GW250114: Testing Hawking’s Area Law and the Kerr Nature of Black Holes

Using the exceptionally loud GW250114 BBH signal, the LVK Collaboration tests Hawking’s area law and the Kerr nature of the remnant black hole. The inspiral indicates a near-equal-mass, low-spin binary, and the post-merger signal is consistent with Kerr ringdown structure. Overall, the analysis provides strong evidence that the remnant’s horizon area does not decrease and that its dynamics match Kerr expectations within measurement uncertainty.

Phys. Rev. Lett. 135 (2025) 111403