The final stages of binary evolution using multi-messenger studies
Abstract
Ultracompact Galactic binaries with orbital periods below an hour are among the strongest persistent gravitational-wave (GW) sources in the mHz band and will constitute the dominant population detected by the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). Tens of thousands are predicted to be individually resolved, with a substantial fraction bright enough for electromagnetic (EM) follow-up. This opens an unprecedented multi-messenger window on compact binary evolution, tidal interactions, mass transfer, and the progenitors of Type Ia supernovae. We highlight key science enabled by joint GW + EM constraints and emphasize the critical need for rapid, high-cadence spectroscopic capabilities in the 2040s. In particular, the most compact (<10 min) binaries detected by LISA will require read-noise-free, zero-dead-time spectroscopic facilities, potentially realized through coordinated arrays of telescopes with time-staggered exposures, to measure radial velocities, tidal heating signatures, and orbital evolution with the precision needed for transformative multi-messenger studies.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2512.16988,
title = {The final stages of binary evolution using multi-messenger studies},
author = {Thomas Kupfer and Simone Scaringi and Paul Groot and Boris Gänsicke and Ingrid Pelisoli and Anna F. Pala and Jan van Roestel and Silvia Toonen and Domitilla de Martino and Noel Castro Segura and David Buckley and Valerie Van Grootel and Kieran O'Brien and Samaya Nissanke},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2512.16988},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
4 pages, 1 figure. White paper submitted to ESO Expanding Horizons call