Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 19, 2025

Setting Limits on Supersymmetry Using Simplified Models
Published on: November 15, 2013
Detecting Massive Scalar Fields with Extreme Mass-Ratio Inspirals
Susanna Barsanti1,2, Andrea Maselli3,4, Thomas P Sotiriou5,6
1Dipartimento di Fisica, "Sapienza" Università di Roma, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Roma, Italy.
Abstract:
We study the imprint of light scalar fields on gravitational waves from extreme mass-ratio inspirals-binary systems with a very large mass asymmetry. We first show that, to leading order in the mass ratio, any effects of the scalar on the waveform are captured fully by two parameters: the mass of the scalar and the scalar charge of the secondary compact object. We then use this theory-agnostic framework to show that the future observations by LISA will be able to simultaneously measure both of these parameters with enough accuracy to detect ultralight scalars.
Related Concept Videos
Detection of Black Holes
Their closest cousins are neutron stars, which are composed almost entirely of neutrons packed against each other, making them extremely dense. A neutron star has the same mass as the Sun but its diameter is only a few kilometers. Therefore, the escape velocity from their surface is close to the speed of light.
Not until the 1960s, when the first neutron...
Gravitation Between Spherically Symmetric Masses
Schwarzschild Radius and Event Horizon
The minimum speed required to launch a projectile from the surface of an object to which it is gravitationally bound so that it eventually escapes the object’s gravitational field is called the escape velocity. The escape velocity is independent of the mass of the object. Merging the idea of escape...
Mass Analyzers: Overview
Reduced Mass Coordinates: Isolated Two-body Problem
Mass Analyzers: Common Types

