Modeling Equatorial EMRI Orbital Evolution using Semi-Relativistic and Teukolsky Calculations

As a result of radiation damping, extreme mass ratio inspirals (EMRIs) will decay from highly eccentric, long period capture orbits to eventually produce gravitational waves detectable by the proposed LISA mission not long before they reach the last stable orbit (LSO) just before plunge. Rather than rely solely on Newtonian order approximations we use a mixed approach. When the Newtonian order approach is no longer reliable, we will switch to a semi-relativistic approximation and when we get even closer to plunge switch to a Teukolsky-based code. Having developed a grid of values for flux rates at different orbital parameters, we will use interpolation to enable us to calculate a complete robust inspiral spectrum for any initial orbital parameters.