Self-force framework for transition-to-plunge waveforms

Understand

Compact binaries with asymmetric mass ratios are key expected sources for next-generation gravitational wave detectors.

• Gravitational self-force theory has been successful in producing post-adiabatic waveforms that describe the quasi-circular inspiral around a non-spinning black hole with sub-radian accuracy, in remarkable agreement with numerical relativity simulations.
• Current inspiral models, however, break down at the innermost stable circular orbit, missing part of the waveform as the secondary body transitions to a plunge into the black hole.
• In this work we derive the transition-to-plunge expansion within a multiscale framework and asymptotically match its early-time behaviour with the late inspiral.