Gravitational waves from binary black holes have the potential to yield information on both of
the intrinsic parameters that characterize the compact objects: their masses and spins. While
the component masses are usually resolvable, the component spins have proven difficult to
measure. This limitation stems in great part from our choice to inquire about the spins of the
most and least massive objects in each binary, a question that becomes ill defined when the
masses are equal. In this Letter, we show that one can ask a different question of the data …

Gravitational waves from binary black holes have the potential to yield information on both
their masses and spins. While the component masses are usually individually resolvable, a
measurement of the component spins is generally elusive. This is partially a consequence of
asking about the spins of the most and least massive objects in each binary, a question
which becomes ill-defined for equal-mass systems. In this talk, I propose to ask a different
question of the data: what are the spins of the most-and least-spinning objects in the binary …