Weak in the Presence of Beauty: Gravitational waves from the mergers of black holes and neutron stars as a messenger

Abstract: In 2025, the 4th Gravitational Wave Transient Catalog reported the discovery of over 200 gravitational wave events since 2015. These gravitational waves (GWs) are emitted by compact binary coalescenses (CBCs) between neutron stars and black holes, and detected with a global network of ground-based laser interferometers. GWs represent a new `messenger' -- ripples in spacetime that propagate across cosmological distances, and carry information about the physical properties of compact objects and their location in the Universe. In this review, we consider what information we can learn about black holes and neutron stars using GWs as a messenger. We explore how the GW observation process allows us to transform the outputs of laser interferometers like LIGO, Virgo and KAGRA into knowledge about black holes and neutron stars. We show that the GW source population acts as a messenger that can lead us to breakthroughs in our understanding of stellar evolution, how the Universe has changed across cosmic time, and fundamental physics. Finally, we discuss three key opportunities to learn more about our Universe using GWs as a messenger in the coming decades.