What the study found
Streams of transient, non-Gaussian noise artifacts called glitches can bias inference for extreme mass ratio inspirals (EMRIs) in the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), but the effect is relatively small when the glitches are moderately mitigated. The study found that EMRI inference is more robust to glitches than inference for some shorter-duration sources.
Why the authors say this matters
The authors say the findings matter because some amount of glitch modeling and mitigation remains essential for unbiased EMRI analyses in the LISA era. The study suggests that understanding glitch effects is important for comparing EMRI inference with inference for other sources such as massive black hole binaries.
What the researchers tested
The researchers used simulated LISA observations with injected EMRIs and streams of shapelet-based glitches drawn from the LISA Pathfinder catalog. They estimated glitch-induced parameter biases and uncertainties with a Fisher-matrix-based analysis and checked that approach with Markov-Chain Monte Carlo, a sampling method used to verify parameter estimates.
What worked and what didn't
Moderately mitigated glitch streams, containing only glitches up to moderate signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs, a measure of signal strength) of about 90, induced negligible to minor biases of about 0.04σ to 0.6σ in inferred EMRI parameters. Weakly mitigated glitch streams containing higher-SNR events up to about 400 could produce biases nearing 1σ.
What to keep in mind
The abstract does not describe limitations beyond the scope of the simulated LISA observations and the glitch streams tested. The findings are stated for EMRIs in this setup and should not be extended beyond what was tested.
Key points
- Glitches can bias EMRI parameter inference in LISA, but the bias is small when glitches are moderately mitigated.
- Moderately mitigated glitch streams with SNRs up to about 90 caused roughly 0.04σ to 0.6σ biases.
- Weakly mitigated glitch streams with higher-SNR events up to about 400 could produce biases nearing 1σ.
- The study finds EMRI inference is more robust to glitches than inference for some shorter-duration sources.
- The authors say glitch modeling and mitigation remain essential for unbiased EMRI analyses in the LISA era.
Disclosure
- Research title:
- Glitches can mildly bias EMRI inference in LISA
- Authors:
- Anonymous
- Publication date:
- 2026-04-22
- OpenAlex record:
- View
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