2008/11/30 by Ilya Mandel, J. R. Gair, Jonathan R. Gair · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Black Holes and Theoretical Physics #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #astro-ph #gr-qc
paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/0264-9381/26/9/094036
published as Class.Quant.Grav.26:094036,2009 · Updated to match published version
arxiv created 2009/04/20 · openalex publication_date 2009/04/20 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2021/02/01 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Abstract. Gravitational waves emitted during intermediate-mass-ratio inspirals (IMRIs) of intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) into supermassive black holes could represent a very interesting source for LISA. Similarly, IMRIs of stellar-mass compact objects into IMBHs could be detectable by Advanced LIGO. At present, however, it is not clear what waveforms could be used for IMRI detection, since the post-Newtonian approximation breaks down as an IMRI approaches the innermost stable circular orbit, and perturbative solutions are only known to the lowest order in the mass ratio. We discuss the expected mismatches between approximate and true waveforms, and the choice of the best available waveform as a function of the mass ratio and the total mass of the system. We also comment on the significance of the spin of the smaller body and the need for its inclusion in the waveforms.