Repeating nuclear transients as candidate electromagnetic counterparts of LISA extreme mass ratio inspirals
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2024 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stae1599 |
| Keywords | accretion; accretion discs; black hole physics; gravitational waves; galaxies: nuclei; black hole mergers; black hole; neutron star mergers |
| Description | Extreme mass ratio inspirals (EMRIs) are one of the primary targets for the recently adopted millihertz gravitational-wave observatory LISA. Some previous studies have argued that a fraction of all EMRIs form in matter-rich environments, and can potentially explain the dozens of soft X-ray band (similar to 10(-1) keV), low-frequency (similar to 0.1 mHz) periodic phenomena known as quasi-periodic eruptions (QPEs) and quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs). Here, using a representative EMRI population retrofitted with cutoffs on LISA-band SNRs and luminosity distances to account for the sensitivity of current instruments, we estimate the mean frequency band in which QPEs and QPOs originating from detectable LISA EMRIs may be emitting an X-ray signal 'today' (i.e. in 2024) to be 0.46 +/- 0.22 mHz. We also model the well-known QPO source, RE J1034+396, which falls in this frequency band, as an EMRI assuming its primary black hole mass to be 10(6)-10(7) M-circle dot. Through a prior-predictive analysis, we estimate the orbiting compact object's mass to be 46(-40)(+10) M-circle dot and the source's LISA-band SNR as approximate to 14, highlighting it as a candidate multimessenger EMRI target. We also highlight the role of current and near-future X-ray and UV observatories in enabling multimessenger observations of EMRIs in conjunction with LISA, and conclude with a discussion of caveats of the current analysis, such as the exclusion of eccentricity and inclination from the model, and the measurability of subsolar mass compact object EMRIs. |
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