Many astrophysically interesting gravitational-wave sources lie between the small-mass-ratio regime where self-force theory excels and the comparable-mass regime accessible to numerical relativity. Intermediate-mass-ratio inspirals — for example, a stellar-mass black hole spiralling into an intermediate-mass companion — fall awkwardly between the two, with neither approach fully sufficient on its own. Hybrid waveform modelling bridges that gap.
We combine self-force calculations with post-Newtonian expansions in regimes where neither one on its own is reliable. The result is a unified family of waveform models that retain perturbative accuracy at small mass ratios while smoothly connecting to the comparable-mass regime probed by LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA and the Einstein Telescope.
Current focus:
- IMRI waveform development for next-generation ground-based detectors
- Quantifying systematic errors in PN expansions using GSF benchmarks
- Comparison with numerical relativity in the overlap regime