Description
Title: Characterising sub-parsec environment of LISA Massive Black Hole Binaries
Abstract: Our current understanding is that an environment – mainly consisting of gas or stars – is required to bring massive black hole binaries (MBHBs) with total mass ∼ [10^4, 10^7] MSun from parsec scale to near-merger. During their final years of inspiral, MBHBs will radiate gravitational waves (GWs) at near-milliHz frequencies that will be observed by the recently adopted space-based mission LISA. I will demonstrate, using a realistic Bayesian data analysis approach, the importance of modeling gas-induced perturbations and eccentricity in the gravitational waveform of LISA MBHBs to constrain properties of the environment, reduce biases on inferred binary parameters, and mitigate systematics in tests of general relativity. Moreover, I will show results from my hydrodynamical simulations studying a MBHB in the final years of its merger. LISA will launch in a decade, making this exploration exciting and valuable in unlocking the mysteries of MBHB evolution.
