Transition from inspiral to plunge for eccentric equatorial Kerr orbits
| dc.creator | O'Shaughnessy, R. | |
| dc.date | 2002-11-07 | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-07-07T12:59:41Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-07-07T12:59:41Z | |
| dc.description | Ori and Thorne have discussed the duration and observability (with LISA) of the transition from circular, equatorial inspiral to plunge for stellar-mass objects into supermassive ($10^{5}-10^{8}M_{\odot}$) Kerr black holes. We extend their computation to eccentric Kerr equatorial orbits. Even with orbital parameters near-exactly determined, we find that there is no universal length for the transition; rather, the length of the transition depends sensitively -- essentially randomly -- on initial conditions. Still, Ori and Thorne's zero-eccentricity results are essentially an upper bound on the length of eccentric transitions involving similar bodies (e.g., $a$ fixed). Hence the implications for observations are no better: if the massive body is $M=10^{6}M_{\odot}$, the captured body has mass $m$, and the process occurs at distance $d$ from LISA, then $S/N \lesssim (m/10 M_{\odot})(1\text{Gpc}/d)\times O(1)$, with the precise constant depending on the black hole spin. For low-mass bodies ($m \lesssim 7 M_\odot$) for which the event rate is at least vaguely understood, we expect little chance (probably [much] less than 10%, depending strongly on the astrophysical assumptions) of LISA detecting a transition event with $S/N>5$ during its run; however, even a small infusion of higher-mass bodies or a slight improvement in LISA's noise curve could potentially produce $S/N>5$ transition events during LISA's lifetime. | |
| dc.description | Submitted to PRD | |
| dc.identifier | https://arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/0211023 | |
| dc.identifier | http://arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/0211023 | |
| dc.identifier | Phys.Rev.D67:044004,2003 | |
| dc.identifier | doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.67.044004 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/225649 | |
| dc.subject | General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology | |
| dc.title | Transition from inspiral to plunge for eccentric equatorial Kerr orbits | |
| dc.type | text |