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

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Duque, Francisco, Kejriwal, Shubham, Sberna, Laura, Speri, Lorenzo, Gair, Jonathan
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2024
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author Duque, Francisco
Kejriwal, Shubham
Sberna, Laura
Speri, Lorenzo
Gair, Jonathan
author_facet Duque, Francisco
Kejriwal, Shubham
Sberna, Laura
Speri, Lorenzo
Gair, Jonathan
contents 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 modelling and analysis of these systems for future gravitational-wave astronomy.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2411_03436
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Constraining accretion physics with gravitational waves from eccentric extreme-mass-ratio inspirals
Duque, Francisco
Kejriwal, Shubham
Sberna, Laura
Speri, Lorenzo
Gair, Jonathan
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
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 modelling and analysis of these systems for future gravitational-wave astronomy.
title Constraining accretion physics with gravitational waves from eccentric extreme-mass-ratio inspirals
topic General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.03436