Massive scalar fields in eccentric regime: Detectability and constraints from LISA observations of extreme mass-ratio inspirals
Abstract
Extreme mass-ratio inspirals (EMRIs) are among the most promising sources for future space-based gravitational wave (GW) observatories and provide sensitive probes of additional fundamental fields in the strong-gravity regime. In the present work, we investigate eccentric equatorial EMRIs around Kerr black holes in the presence of a massive scalar field. We assume that the inspiralling object carries a scalar charge, therefore, emits scalar radiation in addition to GWs. By solving the massive scalar perturbation equation in the frequency domain, we compute the relativistic scalar energy fluxes at the event horizon and at infinity and incorporate them into an adiabatic inspiral model. We investigate the impact of the scalar charge and scalar field mass on the orbital evolution and gravitational waveforms by analysing the accumulated phase differences and waveform mismatches relative to both general relativity (GR) and the massless scalar limit. Our results show that the massive scalar radiation can produce significant GW dephasing, with the effect becoming increasingly pronounced for more eccentric orbits. In addition, the scalar flux is suppressed for larger scalar field masses as fewer scalar harmonics satisfy the propagation condition at infinity. Finally, using both Fisher-information-matrix forecasts and Bayesian parameter estimation, we assess the capability of the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna to constrain the scalar charge and scalar field mass. The two inference approaches gives consistent constraints, demonstrating that eccentric EMRIs provide a promising avenue for probing massive scalar fields and scalar-tensor extensions of gravity in the strong-field regime.
Related
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- A Massive and Eccentric Binary Millisecond Pulsar in the Globular Cluster M10
BibTeX
@misc{zi2026massive,
title = {{Massive scalar fields in eccentric regime: Detectability and constraints from LISA observations of extreme mass-ratio inspirals}},
author = {Tieguang Zi and Shailesh Kumar and Genliang Li and Jun-Kun Zhao and Bao-Min Gu and Fu-Wen Shu},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2606.27429},
eprint = {2606.27429},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.27429},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Massive scalar fields in eccentric regime: Detectability and constraints from LISA observations of extreme mass-ratio inspirals
AU - Tieguang Zi
AU - Shailesh Kumar
AU - Genliang Li
AU - Jun-Kun Zhao
AU - Bao-Min Gu
AU - Fu-Wen Shu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/07
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2606.27429
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.27429
AB - Extreme mass-ratio inspirals (EMRIs) are among the most promising sources for future space-based gravitational wave (GW) observatories and provide sensitive probes of additional fundamental fields in the strong-gravity regime. In the present work, we investigate eccentric equatorial EMRIs around Kerr black holes in the presence of a massive scalar field. We assume that the inspiralling object carries a scalar charge, therefore, emits scalar radiation in addition to GWs. By solving the massive scalar perturbation equation in the frequency domain, we compute the relativistic scalar energy fluxes at the event horizon and at infinity and incorporate them into an adiabatic inspiral model. We investigate the impact of the scalar charge and scalar field mass on the orbital evolution and gravitational waveforms by analysing the accumulated phase differences and waveform mismatches relative to both general relativity (GR) and the massless scalar limit. Our results show that the massive scalar radiation can produce significant GW dephasing, with the effect becoming increasingly pronounced for more eccentric orbits. In addition, the scalar flux is suppressed for larger scalar field masses as fewer scalar harmonics satisfy the propagation condition at infinity. Finally, using both Fisher-information-matrix forecasts and Bayesian parameter estimation, we assess the capability of the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna to constrain the scalar charge and scalar field mass. The two inference approaches gives consistent constraints, demonstrating that eccentric EMRIs provide a promising avenue for probing massive scalar fields and scalar-tensor extensions of gravity in the strong-field regime.
ER -