Transition from inspiral to plunge for braneworld EMRI

TL;DR

This paper investigates how a tidal charge from higher dimensions influences the late inspiral and plunge transition of a compact object into a braneworld black hole, with implications for gravitational wave observations.

Contribution

It introduces approximate flux expressions accounting for tidal charge effects in the inspiral-to-plunge transition of EMRIs, highlighting the impact of higher-dimensional physics.

Findings

Tidal charge can extend the transition timescale.

Derived flux expressions include tidal charge effects.

Estimated tidal charge from observational data.

Abstract

In the present article, we discuss the late inspiral and then the transition regime to the plunge phase of a secondary, less massive compact object into a more massive braneworld black hole, in the context of an extreme-mass-ratio inspiral. We obtain the approximate expressions for fluxes due to slowly evolving constants of motion, such as the energy and the angular momentum, in the presence of the tidal charge inherited from the higher spacetime dimensions for an extreme-mass-ratio system. These expressions for fluxes are further used to introduce dissipative effects while modeling the inspiral to the plunge phase through the transition regime. Within our setup, we provide a qualitative understanding of how the additional tidal charge present in the braneworld scenario may affect the timescale of the late inspiral to the plunge, in particular, by enhancing the time scale of the transition regime. Finally, we provide an estimate for the tidal charge from the higher dimensions, using the observable aspects of the transition regime from the late inspiral to the plunge by the gravitational wave detectors.