New Horizons for Psi: Extreme-Mass-Ratio Inspirals in Fundamental Fields

Abstract

This set of notes guided a 2 hour lecture on "Extreme-Mass-Ratio Inspirals in Fundamental Fields for the New Horizons for Psi School and Workshop", hosted at Instituto Superior Tecnico, University of Lisbon, between 1 - 5 July 2024. It introduces how to model asymmetric mass-ratio binaries evolving while immersed in an environment constituted by an ultralight (complex) scalar field using techniques of black hole perturbation theory, and focusing on the simpler example of a spherically symmetric cloud around a non-rotating black hole. A Mathematica notebook with the derivation and solver of the equations of motion of the system is also provided.