Modeling multipolar gravitational-wave emission from small mass-ratio mergers

Using the effective-one-body (EOB) formalism and a time-domain Teukolsky code, we generate inspiral, merger, and ringdown waveforms in the small-mass-ratio limit. We use EOB inspiral and plunge trajectories to build the Teukolsky-equation source term, and compute full coalescence waveforms for a range of black-hole spins. By comparing EOB waveforms that were recently developed for comparable-mass binary black holes to these Teukolsky waveforms, we improve the EOB model for the (2, 2), (2, 1), (3, 3), and (4, 4) modes. Our results can be used to quickly and accurately extract useful information about merger waves for binaries with spin and should be useful for improving analytic models of such binaries.