Intermediate mass ratio inspirals in dark matter halos

TL;DR

This paper investigates how dark matter halos and slow black hole rotation influence gravitational wave signals from eccentric inspirals of stellar-mass black holes into intermediate-mass black holes.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of the combined effects of dark matter and black hole spin on gravitational waveforms from intermediate mass ratio inspirals.

Findings

Dark matter causes measurable modifications in gravitational wave signals.

Slow rotation of the central black hole influences the inspiral dynamics.

Dark matter effects can be distinguished from black hole spin in waveforms.

Abstract

We study eccentric equatorial orbits of a stellar-mass black hole around an intermediate-mass slowly rotating Kerr black hole in the presence of gravitational radiation and a dark matter halo. The stellar-mass companion will inspiral towards the central black hole while emitting gravitational waves. The evolution is affected by the dynamical friction force caused by the presence of dark matter surrounding the intermediate-mass black hole at the core. Previous studies have shown that the presence of dark matter can be deduced from the gravitational waveforms. We explore the combined effects of slow-rotation of the central black hole and the presence of the dark matter halo around it on the system's gravitational wave emission.