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| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2025
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.21738 |
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| _version_ | 1866911339202478080 |
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| author | Wang, Zi-Xuan Cheng, Gong Chen, Ju Guo, Huai-Ke Miller, Andrew L. |
| author_facet | Wang, Zi-Xuan Cheng, Gong Chen, Ju Guo, Huai-Ke Miller, Andrew L. |
| contents | Mini-extreme-mass-ratio inspirals (mini-EMRIs), composed of a stellar-mass compact object and a much lighter companion, are promising sources of continuous gravitational waves in the frequency band of ground-based interferometers such as LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA. Such systems, consisting of sub-solar-mass compact objects, provide a unique probe of exotic compact objects, including primordial black holes. Detecting such long-lived signals, however, remains challenging. Here, we adapt standard methods used in searches for quasi-monochromatic signals to search for mini-EMRIs, and derive a statistical framework that explicitly handles spectral leakage. In particular, we introduce a new method that sums along the tracks in the time-frequency plane carved out by possible mini-EMRI signals, which we call $Σ$Track. This refinement establishes a general basis for analyzing long-duration transient signals with rapid frequency evolutions, regardless of the underlying mechanism for gravitational-wave emission. We also compute a new semi-analytic sensitivity estimate within our new statistical framework, which is valid under the assumption that the signal is weak with respect to the noise level. We then establish a statistic that quantifies how to discretize the search parameter space for our method, which works for mini-EMRIs, as well as arbitrary signal types. Our results provide a foundation for mini-EMRI searches and demonstrate the potential of current ground-based detectors to probe the existence of sub-solar-mass compact objects. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_21738 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Methods for Detecting Gravitational Waves from mini-Extreme-Mass-Ratio Inspirals I: Statistics Based on Time-Frequency Signal Tracks Wang, Zi-Xuan Cheng, Gong Chen, Ju Guo, Huai-Ke Miller, Andrew L. General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics Mini-extreme-mass-ratio inspirals (mini-EMRIs), composed of a stellar-mass compact object and a much lighter companion, are promising sources of continuous gravitational waves in the frequency band of ground-based interferometers such as LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA. Such systems, consisting of sub-solar-mass compact objects, provide a unique probe of exotic compact objects, including primordial black holes. Detecting such long-lived signals, however, remains challenging. Here, we adapt standard methods used in searches for quasi-monochromatic signals to search for mini-EMRIs, and derive a statistical framework that explicitly handles spectral leakage. In particular, we introduce a new method that sums along the tracks in the time-frequency plane carved out by possible mini-EMRI signals, which we call $Σ$Track. This refinement establishes a general basis for analyzing long-duration transient signals with rapid frequency evolutions, regardless of the underlying mechanism for gravitational-wave emission. We also compute a new semi-analytic sensitivity estimate within our new statistical framework, which is valid under the assumption that the signal is weak with respect to the noise level. We then establish a statistic that quantifies how to discretize the search parameter space for our method, which works for mini-EMRIs, as well as arbitrary signal types. Our results provide a foundation for mini-EMRI searches and demonstrate the potential of current ground-based detectors to probe the existence of sub-solar-mass compact objects. |
| title | Methods for Detecting Gravitational Waves from mini-Extreme-Mass-Ratio Inspirals I: Statistics Based on Time-Frequency Signal Tracks |
| topic | General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.21738 |