Science with the space-based interferometer LISA. V. Extreme mass-ratio inspirals

Babak, S., Gair, J., Sesana, A., Barausse, E., Sopuerta, C. F., Berry, C. P.L. , Berti, E., Amaro-Seoane, P., Petiteau, A. and Klein, A. (2017) Science with the space-based interferometer LISA. V. Extreme mass-ratio inspirals. Physical Review D, 95(10), 103012. (doi: 10.1103/PhysRevD.95.103012)

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Abstract

The space-based Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) will be able to observe the gravitational-wave signals from systems comprised of a massive black hole and a stellar-mass compact object. These systems are known as extreme-mass-ratio inspirals (EMRIs) and are expected to complete ∼ 1 0 4 – 1 0 5 cycles in band, thus allowing exquisite measurements of their parameters. In this work, we attempt to quantify the astrophysical uncertainties affecting the predictions for the number of EMRIs detectable by LISA, and find that competing astrophysical assumptions produce a variance of about three orders of magnitude in the expected intrinsic EMRI rate. However, we find that irrespective of the astrophysical model, at least a few EMRIs per year should be detectable by the LISA mission, with up to a few thousands per year under the most optimistic astrophysical assumptions. We also investigate the precision with which LISA will be able to extract the parameters of these sources. We find that typical fractional statistical errors with which the intrinsic parameters (redshifted masses, massive black hole spin and orbital eccentricity) can be recovered are ∼ 10 − 6 – 10 − 4 . Luminosity distance (which is required to infer true masses) is inferred to about 10% precision and sky position is localized to a few square degrees, while tests of the multipolar structure of the Kerr metric can be performed to percent-level precision or better.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Gair, Dr Jonathan and Berry, Dr Christopher
Authors: Babak, S., Gair, J., Sesana, A., Barausse, E., Sopuerta, C. F., Berry, C. P.L., Berti, E., Amaro-Seoane, P., Petiteau, A., and Klein, A.
College/School:College of Science and Engineering > School of Physics and Astronomy
Journal Name:Physical Review D
Publisher:American Physical Society
ISSN:2470-0010
ISSN (Online):2470-0029
Published Online:31 May 2017
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2017 American Physical Society
First Published:First published in Physical Review D 95(10): 103012
Publisher Policy:Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy

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