Work

Constraining accretion physics with gravitational waves from eccentric extreme-mass-ratio inspirals

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: We study the evolution of eccentric, equatorial extreme-mass-ratio inspirals (EMRIs) immersed in the accretion disks of active galactic nuclei. We find that single gravitational-wave observations from these systems could provide measurements with ∼ 10 % relative precision of, simultaneously, the disk viscosity and mass accretion rate of the central supermassive black hole. This is possible when the EMRI transitions, within the observation time, from supersonic to subsonic motion relative to the disk gas, for eccentricities e ≳ 0.025 – 0.1 . The estimate of the accretion rate would assist in the identification of the EMRI’s host galaxy, or the observation of a direct electromagnetic counterpart, improving the chances of using these sources as cosmological sirens. Our work highlights the rich phenomenology of binary evolution in astrophysical environments and the need to improve the modeling and analysis of these systems for future gravitational-wave astronomy.

Source: Physical review. D/Physical review. D.

DOI: 10.1103/physrevd.111.084006

Authors: Francisco Duque, Shubham Kejriwal, Laura Sberna, Lorenzo Speri, Jonathan Gair

Institutions: Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics, National University of Singapore, University of Nottingham, European Space Research and Technology Centre

Language: English

Topic: Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research

Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Funder: Nvidia

OpenAlex ID: W4409177519

FWCI: 17.36

Cites: 167

Cited by: 38

Related to: 10