Sharpening the dark matter signature in gravitational waveforms II: Numerical simulations with the NbodyIMRI code
arXiv:2402.13762 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.111.063071
Abstract
Future gravitational wave observatories can probe dark matter by detecting the dephasing in the waveform of binary black hole mergers induced by dark matter overdensities. Such a detection hinges on the accurate modelling of the dynamical friction, induced by dark matter on the secondary compact object in intermediate and extreme mass ratio inspirals. In this paper, we introduce NbodyIMRI, a new publicly available code designed for simulating binary systems within cold dark matter `spikes'. Leveraging higher particle counts and finer timesteps, we validate the applicability of the standard dynamical friction formalism and provide an accurate determination of the maximum impact parameter of particles which can effectively scatter with a compact object, across various mass ratios. We also show that in addition to feedback due to dynamical friction, the dark matter also evolves through a `stirring' effect driven by the time-dependent potential of the binary. We introduce a simple semi-analytical scheme to account for this effect and demonstrate that including stirring tends to slow the rate of dark matter depletion and therefore enhances the impact of dark matter on the dynamics of the binary.
11 pages, 9 figures + appendices. Companion paper to "Sharpening the dark matter signature in gravitational waveforms I: Accretion and eccentricity evolution" (arXiv:2402.13053). NbodyIMRI code available here: https://github.com/bradkav/NbodyIMRI
References in corpus (11)
- Can environmental effects spoil precision gravitational-wave astrophysics?
- Gravitational waves as a probe of dark matter mini-spikes
- Environmental Effects for Gravitational-wave Astrophysics
- Dark Matter Density Spikes around Primordial Black Holes
- Circularization vs. Eccentrification in Intermediate Mass Ratio Inspirals inside Dark Matter Spikes
- An optimum time-stepping scheme for N-body simulations
- Sharpening the dark matter signature in gravitational waveforms I: Accretion and eccentricity evolution
- Secondary accretion of dark matter in intermediate mass-ratio inspirals: Dark-matter dynamics and gravitational-wave phase
- Examining the effects of dark matter spikes on eccentric intermediate mass ratio inspirals using N-body simulations
- Distinctive GWBs from eccentric inspiraling SMBH binaries with a DM spike
- Post-Newtonian effects in compact binaries with a dark matter spike: A Lagrangian approach
Cited by in corpus (13)
- Sharpening the dark matter signature in gravitational waveforms I: Accretion and eccentricity evolution
- Fully Relativistic Treatment of Extreme Mass-Ratio Inspirals in Collisionless Environments
- Dark Matter Mounds: towards a realistic description of dark matter overdensities around black holes
- Fundamental Physics and Cosmology with TianQin
- Probing dark matter halo profiles with multi-band observations of gravitational waves
- Significance of soft-scale breaking on primordial black hole production in Coleman-Weinberg type supercooling-phase transition
- Intermediate mass ratio inspirals in dark matter halos
- Scalar fields around black hole binaries in LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA
- A disturbance in the force. How force fluctuations hinder dynamical friction and induce core stalling
- Hints of Dark Matter Spikes in Low-mass X-ray Binaries: a critical assessment
- Mass and spin coevolution of black holes inspiralling through dark matter
- Search for planetary-mass ultra-compact binaries using data from the first part of the LIGO--Virgo--KAGRA fourth observing run
- Accretion of self-interacting dark matter onto supermassive black holes