A template-count-limited search strategy for extreme-mass-ratio LISA inspirals

We consider how to search for complex inspiral chirps when constrained by realistic computing resource limits. We briefly compare three alternate search strategies based on different template allocations for the initial search step: 1. Allocating templates uniformly throughout LISA's most sensitive frequency band from .003 Hz to .01 Hz; 2. Allocating all templates to a single frequency at the entrance to this band (.003 Hz); 3. Allocating all templates to a single frequency at the exit from this band (.01 Hz). We argue that a search strategy focusing most resources on a single frequency is favored by: the ease of 'following' a signal once it has been found versus the difficulty of finding it initially; the shape of the LISA sensitivity curve; and the template-count limits imposed by attainable computational resources. We devise a combined strategy that uses multiple search techniques, beginnig with a single-frequency template-allocation method. This combined strategy is quite powerful; it can detect inspirals that would be missed by using only the uniform template allocation search strategy with the same total template count.