Orbital evolution for extreme mass-ratio binaries: conservative self forces

TL;DR

This paper investigates how conservative gravitational self-force effects influence the orbital evolution of extreme mass-ratio binaries, emphasizing their importance for accurate long-duration gravitational wave modeling for LISA.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of conservative self-force effects on orbital phase evolution, highlighting their significance for gravitational wave data analysis.

Findings

Conservative self-force effects can significantly alter orbital phases.

Both secular and non-secular effects are important for waveform accuracy.

These effects are independent of the mass ratio of the binary system.

Abstract

The conservative dephasing effects of gravitational self forces for extreme mass-ratio inspirals are studied. Both secular and non-secular conservative effects may have a significant effect on LISA waveforms that is independent of the mass ratio of the system. Such effects need to be included in generated waveforms to allow for accurate gravitational wave astronomy that requires integration times as long as a year.