Black holes have long captivated scientists, being among the most bizarre and powerful objects in the universe. While we know that supermassive black holes anchor the centers of galaxies and stellar mass black holes arise from dying stars, there's a tantalizing mystery: what about black holes that fall in between these two categories?

Enter the world of intermediate black holes (IMBHs), which range from a few hundred to several hundred thousand times the mass of our Sun. These elusive cosmic entities remain one of the greatest enigmas, and a dedicated team of astronomers, including researchers Krystal, Karan, and Anjali Yelikar, has recently turned their telescopes towards the ripples in space-time to uncover the secret lives of these mysterious giants.

A Game of Discovery: How We Listen to the Cosmos

Imagine you're at a baseball game, blocked by a concrete pillar, struggling to hear the action over the raucous crowd. To make sense of the game, you deploy advanced technology to filter out the noise and hear the satisfying 'thunk' of the bat striking the ball.

This intricate process mirrors how astronomers work with gravitational waves—slight ripples in the fabric of space-time that help us detect black hole mergers. By employing the sophisticated Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), researchers can pinpoint the 'sound' of black holes colliding, enabling a deeper understanding of these cosmic collisions.

The Great Black Hole Mystery and Its 'Mass Gap'

While we can identify stellar mass black holes born from stars nearing the end of their lifecycles—typically between 20 and 100 solar masses—there's a baffling gap beyond that. Not every massive star leaves behind a black hole; the very largest stars explode in ways that don’t create one at all, leaving us with a significant knowledge gap.

This gap is pivotal in the cosmic dance of black holes, birthing the term 'lite intermediate mass black holes' (lite IMBHs)—the least massive black holes formed through means other than dying stars. Their existence challenges our understanding, as they occupy a frontier where science has yet to unveil how they come into being.

The Search for Lite IMBHs: Groundbreaking Discoveries

In a recent study, our astronomer team sifted through 11 potential black hole merger signals identified during LIGO's third observational run. Excitingly, we identified five candidates with a 90% confidence level of being lite IMBHs, suggesting they reside in that mysterious mass gap.

Among our findings, one particular event stood out: a parent black hole residing in the mass gap range, while two others were even more massive. This hints at an unknown mechanism responsible for creating such heavy black holes, which defies previous expectations that they must originate from stellar remains.

Looking Ahead: The Quest Continues

As LIGO embarks on its fourth observational run, we are eager to leverage new data in our quest to decode the mysteries of lite IMBHs. By refining our detection methods, we aim to enhance our understanding of how often black holes merge and what secrets lie within that enigmatic mass gap.

In our pursuit, we hope to not only bolster the case for lite IMBHs but also illuminate their formation processes and their captivating role within the cosmic tapestry.