A New Information-Entropic Metric for Quantifying Merger Stability in Binary Black Holes Using LIGO–Virgo Data

Binary black-hole mergers exhibit diverse dynamical behaviors shaped by their spins, mass ratios, and post-merger evolution. While these parameters are commonly analyzed individually, this separation limits the ability to quantify merger stability within a single, unified framework. Here, we introduce an empirical information-entropic efficiency index, I GW eff , which integrates effective spin, mass asymmetry, and ringdown decay time into a functional form calibrated against 35 observed LIGO–Virgo events. Across the catalog, I GW eff is consistently correlated with positive effective spin, lower mass asymmetry, and longer ringdown damping scales, enabling a reproducible characterization of merger stability. The resulting distribution reveals three stability regimes that emerge naturally in the (χ eff , ∆m) plane, offering a compact summary of dynamical behavior that complements conventional parameter-by-parameter analyses. As gravitational-wave detections continue to accelerate, this lightweight metric may support population studies, stability classification, and data-driven modeling of compact-binary evolution.