CMC simulations with realistic binaries confirm dynamical assembly drives most cluster BBH mergers at rates matching GWTC-5.0

{"The models evolve 24 dense clusters from birth to dissolution using updated stellar and binary physics within the Cluster Monte Carlo framework. Initial binaries follow mass-dependent fractions and distributions drawn from Solar-neighborhood and star-forming-region observations, replacing the simplified assumptions of earlier grids. Dynamical encounters, binary evolution, and three-body interactions are tracked self-consistently across cosmic time.","Dynamically assembled first-generation mergers account for the bulk of events and produce a total rate density consistent with LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA inferences from GWTC-5.0. The simulated primary-mass function exhibits the observed break near 20 solar masses, the secondary-mass spectrum shows the reported slope reversal across 10 and 30 solar masses, and the mass-ratio distribution matches both low- and high-mass domains. Effective and precessing spin distributions remain broad, as expected for dynamical formation.","Primordial binaries contribute only a minor fraction of mergers yet frequently seed hierarchical chains, causing the hierarchical rate to rise more steeply with redshift than the 1G dynamical channel. This differential evolution supplies a testable signature once catalogs extend beyond z approximately 1. The results align with earlier CMC studies while tightening constraints on the cluster contribution to the overall merger rate.","Future work will incorporate updated supernova prescriptions and direct N-body comparisons to quantify systematic uncertainties in the hierarchical fraction. Expanded grids that vary cluster initial conditions will further map pathways to intermediate-mass black-hole formation detectable by LIGO-Virgo and future ground-based detectors."}