Speaker
Description
The formation and evolution of massive black holes (MBHs) is an
unresolved mystery in astrophysics.
A primary goal of the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) mission
is therefore to study massive black holes (MBHs) and their environments
from their gravitational wave emission in binary systems.
One class of these systems are extreme-mass-ratio inspirals (EMRIs), in
which a stellar-mass compact object (CO) completes tens of thousands of
orbital cycles around a MBH over a timescale of years before merging.
The precession of the CO trajectory produces a waveform rich in harmonic
structure, enabling LISA to measure source parameters to one part in a
milion.
However, this waveform complexity and extreme measurement precision
makes EMRI data analysis a computationally expensive procedure.
In this talk, we will show how these exquisite waveforms can be
generated in milliseconds with the FastEMRIWaveforms (FEW) package.
We will then explore what future improvements in waveform generation
with FEW are required to fully exploit the science potential of EMRI
signals.
Lastly, we will demonstrate how the measurement precision of EMRIs makes
them ideal candidates for investigating environmental effects and
performing cosmology/lensing studies.
