Detecting Massive Scalar Fields with Extreme Mass-Ratio Inspirals

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.