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Modeling the merger-ringdown of an eccentric test-mass inspiral into a Kerr black hole using the effective-one-body framework

Guglielmo Faggioli1,*, Alessandra Buonanno1,2, Maarten van de Meent3,1, and Gaurav Khanna4,5

  • *Contact author: guglielmo.faggioli@aei.mpg.de
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Phys. Rev. D 114, 044091 – Published 28 August, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/f1lp-z5d2

Abstract

We characterize and phenomenologically model the merger-ringdown of gravitational waves emitted by a small compact object that plunges and merges into a Kerr black hole from equatorial-eccentric inspirals. The waveforms are generated employing a time-domain Teukolsky code sourced with trajectories computed using the effective-one-body framework. We span values of the Kerr spin a∈[−0.9,0.9], eccentricity at the last stable orbit (LSO) eLSO∈[0,0.9], and relativistic anomaly ξLSO∈[0,2π]. We characterize the last peak of the waveform and ringdown features across the parameter space, finding that the eccentricity mainly affects the last peak features, while it has a smaller impact on the ringdown signal. In contrast, the relativistic anomaly measured at the LSO influences the morphology of the last peak in a restricted portion of the parameter space and has no impact on the ringdown part. We perform the analysis for all the spin-weighted spherical harmonic modes normally included in the SEOBNR family of models, (ℓ,m)∈{(2,2),(3,3),(4,4),(5,5),(2,1),(3,2),(4,3)}. Finally, we introduce a merger-ringdown model for SEOBE-TML, a forthcoming inspiral-merger-ringdown waveform model for eccentric spin-aligned binary black holes in the test-mass limit, whose features can be extended to comparable-mass regimes. The model also accounts for quasinormal mode mixing during the ringdown. It provides a first step toward incorporating the impact of residual eccentricity close to merger into spin-aligned effective-one-body merger-ringdown models for binary black holes.

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Phys. Rev. D 114, 044091– Published 28 August, 2026
  • Received 30 March 2026
  • Accepted 3 August 2026
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