Primordial black hole capture, gravitational wave beats, and the nuclear equation of state

Abstract

Primordial black holes (PBHs), if captured by neutron stars (NSs), would emit a characteristic gravitational wave (GW) signal as they orbit inside the host star. We identify a specific and qualitatively new feature of these signals, namely quasi-periodic beats caused by the precession of noncircular PBH orbits. We demonstrate numerically and analytically that the beat frequency depends rather sensitively on the NS structure, so that hypothetical future observations with next-generation GW detectors would provide valuable constraints on the nuclear equation of state.