Extreme-mass-ratio inspirals, in which a stellar-mass compact object spirals into a supermassive black hole in a galactic core, are expected to be key sources for LISA. Modeling these systems with sufficient accuracy for LISA science requires going to second (or postadiabatic) order in gravitational self-force theory. Here we present a practical two-timescale framework for achieving this and generating postadiabatic waveforms. The framework comprises a set of frequency-domain field equations that apply on the fast, orbital timescale, together with a set of ordinary differential equations that determine the evolution on the slow, inspiral timescale. Our analysis is restricted to the special case of quasicircular orbits around a Schwarzschild black hole, but its general structure carries over to the realistic case of generic (inclined and eccentric) orbits in Kerr spacetime. In our restricted context, we also develop a tool that will be useful in all cases: a formulation of the frequency-domain field equations using hyperboloidal slicing, which significantly improves the behavior of the sources near the boundaries. We give special attention to the slow evolution of the central black hole, examining its impact on both the two-timescale evolution and the earlier self-consistent evolution scheme.

• Received 19 August 2020
• Accepted 25 January 2021

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.103.064048