LIGO Seminar

https://caltech.zoom.us/j/87546916051?pwd=aTByZU5WamhUKzlkRVY2bW05bytDdz09

Speaker: Zach Nasipak

Title: bhpwave: A perturbative waveform model for binaries with spinning massive black holes

We present `bhpwave`, a new open-source waveform model that simulates the gravitational wave signals of stellar-mass compact objects undergoing quasi-circular inspirals into rotating massive black holes. These so-called extreme-mass-ratio inspirals (EMRIs) will be ideal sources for the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), a future mHz gravitational wave detector. Designing fast and accurate EMRI waveforms is critical to observing these systems, but few open-source waveform models exist. Building upon the adiabatic approximation in perturbation theory, `bhpwave` provides a new open-access Python package that produces (leading-order) accurate simulations of EMRIs with rotating massive black holes. This tool can produce years-long signals in milliseconds to seconds in either the time- or frequency-domains, and it can model EMRIs with massive black holes spinning up to 99.99% of their maximal rate. In this talk we discuss the novel methods underlying  `bhpwave` and how they can be applied to future EMRI waveform models. We also demonstrate how modeling errors can degrade EMRI parameter estimation for future space-based gravitational wave science with LISA, particularly for rapidly-spinning systems. Lastly, we highlight how `bhpwave` fits into a larger effort to develop open-source software in support of gravitational wave science.