Searching for extreme-mass-ratio inspirals in LISA: From identification to parameter estimation
Phys. Rev. D 113, 084048 – Published 22 April, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/yp6d-8vqv
Abstract
The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) is a planned space-based observatory designed to detect gravitational waves within the millihertz frequency range. LISA is anticipated to observe the inspiral of compact objects into black holes at the centers of galaxies, so-called extreme-mass-ratio inspirals (EMRIs). However, the extraction of these long-lived complex signals is challenging due to the large size and multimodality of the search space. In this study, we introduce a new search strategy that allows us to find EMRI signals in noisy data from wide priors all the way to performing parameter estimation. This work is an important step in understanding how to extract EMRIs from future LISA data.
