Identifying Galactic Binary Systems of Neutron Stars and Black Holes with LISA
- 1University of Birmingham
- 2Universitat de les Illes Balears
- 3Flatiron Institute
Abstract
The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) will detect ∼100 Galactic binary systems comprised of black holes and neutron stars. Distinguishing these binaries from the ∼10 ⁴ double white dwarfs detectable by LISA will be challenging. In the absence of any other information, the inferred component masses can be used to classify the nature of these objects. However, short-period Galactic binaries ∼10 ⁷ –10 ³ yr from coalescence produce a quasi-monochromatic signal which carries little information about their masses. We generate synthetic LISA datasets containing gravitational waves from Galactic binary black holes, binary neutron stars, and black hole–neutron stars drawn from an astrophysically realistic population produced through the isolated binary evolution channel. We use a Bayesian inference pipeline to explore the accuracy with which the component masses can be measured. LISA will be able to infer component masses for ≈10%−50% of the detected systems by measuring the orbital eccentricity, periapse precession frequency, and gravitational-wave-induced frequency derivative. Typical fractional mass errors are ≈1%–100% (depending on the specific value of the source parameters) enabling the classification of the constituent objects as black holes or neutron stars. For these binaries, LISA will also be able to determine their 3D positions in the Milky Way. LISA detections of these double compact objects (DCOs) will provide new insights to their astrophysical formation processes, the Galactic population, and the Milky Way’s star formation history. However, for a significant fraction of the LISA-detected binaries the nature of their constituent objects may remain unclear.
Related
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BibTeX
@article{middleton2026identifying,
title = {{Identifying Galactic Binary Systems of Neutron Stars and Black Holes with LISA}},
author = {Hannah Middleton and Panagiota Kolitsidou and Antoine Klein and Connor Adam and Rowan Chalmers and Alberto Vecchio},
journal = {The Astrophysical Journal},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3847/1538-4357/ae9c34},
url = {https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ae9c34},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Identifying Galactic Binary Systems of Neutron Stars and Black Holes with LISA
AU - Hannah Middleton
AU - Panagiota Kolitsidou
AU - Antoine Klein
AU - Connor Adam
AU - Rowan Chalmers
AU - Alberto Vecchio
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - The Astrophysical Journal
DO - 10.3847/1538-4357/ae9c34
UR - https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ae9c34
AB - The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) will detect ∼100 Galactic binary systems comprised of black holes and neutron stars. Distinguishing these binaries from the ∼10 ⁴ double white dwarfs detectable by LISA will be challenging. In the absence of any other information, the inferred component masses can be used to classify the nature of these objects. However, short-period Galactic binaries ∼10 ⁷ –10 ³ yr from coalescence produce a quasi-monochromatic signal which carries little information about their masses. We generate synthetic LISA datasets containing gravitational waves from Galactic binary black holes, binary neutron stars, and black hole–neutron stars drawn from an astrophysically realistic population produced through the isolated binary evolution channel. We use a Bayesian inference pipeline to explore the accuracy with which the component masses can be measured. LISA will be able to infer component masses for ≈10%−50% of the detected systems by measuring the orbital eccentricity, periapse precession frequency, and gravitational-wave-induced frequency derivative. Typical fractional mass errors are ≈1%–100% (depending on the specific value of the source parameters) enabling the classification of the constituent objects as black holes or neutron stars. For these binaries, LISA will also be able to determine their 3D positions in the Milky Way. LISA detections of these double compact objects (DCOs) will provide new insights to their astrophysical formation processes, the Galactic population, and the Milky Way’s star formation history. However, for a significant fraction of the LISA-detected binaries the nature of their constituent objects may remain unclear.
SN - 0004-637X
SN - 1538-4357
ER -