Detection Rate and Parameter-Estimation Forecasts for Stellar-Mass Binary Black Holes Across Next-Generation Gravitational-Wave Detectors.

We present detection rate and parameter-estimation forecasts for stellar-mass binary black hole (BBH) populations across three gravitational-wave detector configurations: Advanced LIGO at design sensitivity (aLIGO O5), the Einstein Telescope (ET), and Cosmic Explorer (CE). Using a population of 5,000 compact binaries drawn from a Salpeter initial mass function with Peters (1964) merger timescales, we compute matched-filter signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) using pycbc with IMRPhenomD waveforms, and derive horizon distances, detectable fractions, and Fisher matrix parameter uncertainties for chirp mass, mass ratio, and luminosity distance. We find that ET and CE achieve SNRs 12.6 and 44.7 times higher than aLIGO for a GW150914-like source at 410 Mpc, with sky-averaged horizon distances reaching ∼80,000 Mpc and ∼320,000 Mpc, respectively. Within a population distributed to 5,000 Mpc, ET and CE detect 100% of merging binaries compared to 9% for aLIGO. Fisher-matrix forecasts show that ET and CE improve luminosity distance precision by factors of 12 and 42, respectively, relative to aLIGO at Mc = 10 M⊙. These results demonstrate that next-generation detectors will achieve complete detection of the stellar-mass BBH population and enable precision parameter estimation across cosmological distances.