Multimessenger Spectroscopy

Abstract

A multimessenger method is developed for scheduling optical spectroscopy of ultracompact double white dwarf binaries from Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) data. The orbital parameters inferred from the gravitational wave (GW) signal are used to predict the argument of latitude $u(t)$, which sets the phase dependence of the radial velocity. With $u(t)$ known in advance, spectra can be taken at selected orbital phases. The GW and spectroscopic descriptions are linked by $u(t)=\Phi_{\rm GW}(t)/2+\delta_{e,\omega}(t)+\mathcal{O}(e^2)$, where $\Phi_{\rm GW}$ is the GW phase, $e$ the eccentricity, and $\delta_{e,\omega}$ the equation of the centre to $\mathcal{O}(e)$, which vanishes for a circular orbit. Radial velocities are regressed on $\cos u$; for double-lined binaries, the two slopes determine the semi-amplitudes $K_1$ and $K_2$. With the inclination and orbital period measured by LISA, both component masses follow from the semi-amplitudes through Kepler's third law, and the resulting chirp mass with the GW amplitude gives the source distance. We derive waveforms to first order in the Laplace--Lagrange parameters; the circular quadrupole waveform is recovered as $e\to0$. Using simulated LISA data for one circular and one eccentric system, we forecast how long $u(t)$ remains accurate enough for phase-resolved spectroscopy. Masses derived from the velocity amplitudes are free of the biases that tides, mass transfer, or acceleration along the line of sight introduce when $\dot f_{\rm GW}$ alone is used. For a four-year LISA observation, scheduling at quadrature remains viable for roughly a decade after the observation ends. Four years after the observation midpoint, the ephemeris predicts the orbital phase to $0.3$~s for the eccentric system and $0.9$~s for the circular one, compared with $1$--$30$~s for optical ephemerides propagated over the same baseline.