1,815 research outputs found
Phasing of gravitational waves from inspiralling eccentric binaries at the third-and-a-half post-Newtonian order
We obtain an efficient description for the dynamics of nonspinning compact
binaries moving in inspiralling eccentric orbits to implement the phasing of
gravitational waves from such binaries at the 3.5 post-Newtonian (PN) order.
Our computation heavily depends on the phasing formalism, presented in [T.
Damour, A. Gopakumar, and B. R. Iyer, Phys. Rev. D \textbf{70}, 064028 (2004)],
and the 3PN accurate generalized quasi-Keplerian parametric solution to the
conservative dynamics of nonspinning compact binaries moving in eccentric
orbits, available in [R.-M. Memmesheimer, A. Gopakumar, and G. Sch\"afer, Phys.
Rev. D \textbf{70}, 104011 (2004)]. The gravitational-wave (GW) polarizations
and with 3.5PN accurate phasing should be useful for the
earth-based GW interferometers, current and advanced, if they plan to search
for gravitational waves from inspiralling eccentric binaries. Our results will
be required to do \emph{astrophysics} with the proposed space-based GW
interferometers like LISA, BBO, and DECIGO.Comment: 22 pages including 2 figures; submitted to PR
Neutrino Oscillations from Strings and Other Funny Things
I will discuss three related unconventional ways to generate neutrino
oscillations (1)Equivalence principle violation by the string dilaton field
(i2)Violation of Lorentz Invariance and (3) Equivalence principle violation
through a non-universal tensor neutrino-gravity coupling. These unorthodox
neutrino oscillation mechanisms are shown to be viable at the level of our
present experimental knowledge and demonstrate that neutrino oscillations can
probe very profound questions
On the determination of the last stable orbit for circular general relativistic binaries at the third post-Newtonian approximation
We discuss the analytical determination of the location of the Last Stable
Orbit (LSO) in circular general relativistic orbits of two point masses. We use
several different ``resummation methods'' (including new ones) based on the
consideration of gauge-invariant functions, and compare the results they give
at the third post-Newtonian (3PN) approximation of general relativity. Our
treatment is based on the 3PN Hamiltonian of Jaranowski and Sch\"afer. One of
the new methods we introduce is based on the consideration of the (invariant)
function linking the angular momentum and the angular frequency. We also
generalize the ``effective one-body'' approach of Buonanno and Damour by
introducing a non-minimal (i.e. ``non-geodesic'') effective dynamics at the 3PN
level. We find that the location of the LSO sensitively depends on the
(currently unknown) value of the dimensionless quantity \oms which
parametrizes a certain regularization ambiguity of the 3PN dynamics. We find,
however, that all the analytical methods we use numerically agree between
themselves if the value of this parameter is \oms\simeq-9. This suggests that
the correct value of \oms is near -9 (the precise value
\oms^*\equiv-{47/3}+{41/64}\pi^2=-9.3439... seems to play a special role). If
this is the case, we then show how to further improve the analytical
determination of various LSO quantities by using a ``Shanks'' transformation to
accelerate the convergence of the successive (already resummed) PN estimates.Comment: REVTeX, 25 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Third post-Newtonian dynamics of compact binaries: Noetherian conserved quantities and equivalence between the harmonic-coordinate and ADM-Hamiltonian formalisms
A Lagrangian from which derive the third post-Newtonian (3PN) equations of
motion of compact binaries (neglecting the radiation reaction damping) is
obtained. The 3PN equations of motion were computed previously by Blanchet and
Faye in harmonic coordinates. The Lagrangian depends on the harmonic-coordinate
positions, velocities and accelerations of the two bodies. At the 3PN order,
the appearance of one undetermined physical parameter \lambda reflects an
incompleteness of the point-mass regularization used when deriving the
equations of motion. In addition the Lagrangian involves two unphysical
(gauge-dependent) constants r'_1 and r'_2 parametrizing some logarithmic terms.
The expressions of the ten Noetherian conserved quantities, associated with the
invariance of the Lagrangian under the Poincar\'e group, are computed. By
performing an infinitesimal ``contact'' transformation of the motion, we prove
that the 3PN harmonic-coordinate Lagrangian is physically equivalent to the 3PN
Arnowitt-Deser-Misner Hamiltonian obtained recently by Damour, Jaranowski and
Sch\"afer.Comment: 30 pages, to appear in Classical and Quantum Gravit
Gravitational waves from black hole binary inspiral and merger: The span of third post-Newtonian effective-one-body templates
We extend the description of gravitational waves emitted by binary black
holes during the final stages of inspiral and merger by introducing in the
third post-Newtonian (3PN) effective-one-body (EOB) templates seven new
``flexibility'' parameters that affect the two-body dynamics and gravitational
radiation emission. The plausible ranges of these flexibility parameters,
notably the parameter characterising the fourth post-Newtonian effects in the
dynamics, are estimated. Using these estimates, we show that the currently
available standard 3PN bank of EOB templates does ``span'' the space of signals
opened up by all the flexibility parameters, in that their maximized mutual
overlaps are larger than 96.5%. This confirms the effectualness of 3PN EOB
templates for the detection of binary black holes in gravitational-wave data
from interferometric detectors. The possibility to drastically reduce the
number of EOB templates using a few ``universal'' phasing functions is
suggested.Comment: 23 pages, 3 figures, 4 tables, with revtex4, Minor clarifications,
Final published versio
Theoretical Aspects of the Equivalence Principle
We review several theoretical aspects of the Equivalence Principle (EP). We
emphasize the unsatisfactory fact that the EP maintains the absolute character
of the coupling constants of physics while General Relativity, and its
generalizations (Kaluza-Klein,..., String Theory), suggest that all absolute
structures should be replaced by dynamical entities. We discuss the
EP-violation phenomenology of dilaton-like models, which is likely to be
dominated by the linear superposition of two effects: a signal proportional to
the nuclear Coulomb energy, related to the variation of the fine-structure
constant, and a signal proportional to the surface nuclear binding energy,
related to the variation of the light quark masses. We recall the various
theoretical arguments (including a recently proposed anthropic argument)
suggesting that the EP be violated at a small, but not unmeasurably small
level. This motivates the need for improved tests of the EP. These tests are
probing new territories in physics that are related to deep, and mysterious,
issues in fundamental physics.Comment: 21 pages, no figures; submitted to a "focus issue" of Classical and
Quantum Gravity on Tests of the Weak Equivalence Principle, organized by
Clive Speake and Clifford Wil
Curvature corrections and Kac-Moody compatibility conditions
We study possible restrictions on the structure of curvature corrections to
gravitational theories in the context of their corresponding Kac--Moody
algebras, following the initial work on E10 in Class. Quant. Grav. 22 (2005)
2849. We first emphasize that the leading quantum corrections of M-theory can
be naturally interpreted in terms of (non-gravity) fundamental weights of E10.
We then heuristically explore the extent to which this remark can be
generalized to all over-extended algebras by determining which curvature
corrections are compatible with their weight structure, and by comparing these
curvature terms with known results on the quantum corrections for the
corresponding gravitational theories.Comment: 27 page
Transition from inspiral to plunge in precessing binaries of spinning black holes
We investigate the non-adiabatic dynamics of spinning black hole binaries by
using an analytical Hamiltonian completed with a radiation-reaction force,
containing spin couplings, which matches the known rates of energy and angular
momentum losses on quasi-circular orbits. We consider both a straightforward
post-Newtonian-expanded Hamiltonian (including spin-dependent terms), and a
version of the resummed post-Newtonian Hamiltonian defined by the Effective
One-Body approach. We focus on the influence of spin terms onto the dynamics
and waveforms. We evaluate the energy and angular momentum released during the
final stage of inspiral and plunge. For an equal-mass binary the energy
released between 40Hz and the frequency beyond which our analytical treatment
becomes unreliable is found to be, when using the more reliable Effective
One-Body dynamics: 0.6% M for anti-aligned maximally spinning black holes, 5% M
for aligned maximally spinning black hole, and 1.8% M for non-spinning
configurations. In confirmation of previous results, we find that, for all
binaries considered, the dimensionless rotation parameter J/E^2 is always
smaller than unity at the end of the inspiral, so that a Kerr black hole can
form right after the inspiral phase. By matching a quasi-normal mode ringdown
to the last reliable stages of the plunge, we construct complete waveforms
approximately describing the gravitational wave signal emitted by the entire
process of coalescence of precessing binaries of spinning black holes.Comment: 31 pages, 7 tables, and 13 figure
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