Detecting Kozai–Lidov Imprints on the Gravitational Waves of Intermediate-mass Black Holes in Galactic Nuclei
Barnabás Deme, Bao-Minh Hoang, Smadar Naoz, Bence Kocsis
Abstract
Abstract A third object in the vicinity of a binary system causes variations in the eccentricity and the inclination of the binary through the Kozai–Lidov (KL) effect. We examine if such variations leave a detectable imprint on the gravitational waves of a binary consisting of intermediate-mass black holes and stellar-mass objects. As a proof of concept, we present an example where LISA may detect the KL-modulated gravitational wave signals of such sources from at least a distance of 1 Mpc if the perturbation is caused by a supermassive black hole tertiary. Although the quick pericenter precession induced by general relativity significantly reduces the appropriate parameter space for this effect by quenching the KL oscillations, we still find reasonable parameters where the KL effect may be detected with high signal-to-noise ratios.