2,496 research outputs found
Testing post-Newtonian theory with gravitational wave observations
The Laser Interferometric Space Antenna (LISA) will observe supermassive
black hole binary mergers with amplitude signal-to-noise ratio of several
thousands. We investigate the extent to which such observations afford
high-precision tests of Einstein's gravity. We show that LISA provides a unique
opportunity to probe the non-linear structure of post-Newtonian theory both in
the context of general relativity and its alternatives.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figure
Dimensional regularization of the third post-Newtonian dynamics of point particles in harmonic coordinates
Dimensional regularization is used to derive the equations of motion of two
point masses in harmonic coordinates. At the third post-Newtonian (3PN)
approximation, it is found that the dimensionally regularized equations of
motion contain a pole part [proportional to 1/(d-3)] which diverges as the
space dimension d tends to 3. It is proven that the pole part can be
renormalized away by introducing suitable shifts of the two world-lines
representing the point masses, and that the same shifts renormalize away the
pole part of the "bulk" metric tensor g_munu(x). The ensuing, finite
renormalized equations of motion are then found to belong to the general
parametric equations of motion derived by an extended Hadamard regularization
method, and to uniquely determine the heretofore unknown 3PN parameter lambda
to be: lambda = - 1987/3080. This value is fully consistent with the recent
determination of the equivalent 3PN static ambiguity parameter, omega_s = 0, by
a dimensional-regularization derivation of the Hamiltonian in
Arnowitt-Deser-Misner coordinates. Our work provides a new, powerful check of
the consistency of the dimensional regularization method within the context of
the classical gravitational interaction of point particles.Comment: 82 pages, LaTeX 2e, REVTeX 4, 8 PostScript figures, minor changes to
reflect Phys. Rev. D versio
Post-Newtonian approximation for isolated systems calculated by matched asymptotic expansions
Two long-standing problems with the post-Newtonian approximation for isolated
slowly-moving systems in general relativity are: (i) the appearance at high
post-Newtonian orders of divergent Poisson integrals, casting a doubt on the
soundness of the post-Newtonian series; (ii) the domain of validity of the
approximation which is limited to the near-zone of the source, and prevents
one, a priori, from incorporating the condition of no-incoming radiation, to be
imposed at past null infinity. In this article, we resolve the problem (i) by
iterating the post-Newtonian hierarchy of equations by means of a new
(Poisson-type) integral operator that is free of divergencies, and the problem
(ii) by matching the post-Newtonian near-zone field to the exterior field of
the source, known from previous work as a multipolar-post-Minkowskian expansion
satisfying the relevant boundary conditions at infinity. As a result, we obtain
an algorithm for iterating the post-Newtonian series up to any order, and we
determine the terms, present in the post-Newtonian field, that are associated
with the gravitational-radiation reaction onto an isolated slowly-moving matter
system.Comment: 61 pages, to appear in Phys. Rev.
Gravitational radiation reaction in the equations of motion of compact binaries to 3.5 post-Newtonian order
We compute the radiation reaction force on the orbital motion of compact
binaries to the 3.5 post-Newtonian (3.5PN) approximation, i.e. one PN order
beyond the dominant effect. The method is based on a direct PN iteration of the
near-zone metric and equations of motion of an extended isolated system, using
appropriate ``asymptotically matched'' flat-space-time retarded potentials. The
formalism is subsequently applied to binary systems of point particles, with
the help of the Hadamard self-field regularisation. Our result is the 3.5PN
acceleration term in a general harmonic coordinate frame. Restricting the
expression to the centre-of-mass frame, we find perfect agreement with the
result derived in a class of coordinate systems by Iyer and Will using the
energy and angular momentum balance equations.Comment: 28 pages, references added, to appear in Classical and Quantum
Gravit
Lorentzian regularization and the problem of point-like particles in general relativity
The two purposes of the paper are (1) to present a regularization of the
self-field of point-like particles, based on Hadamard's concept of ``partie
finie'', that permits in principle to maintain the Lorentz covariance of a
relativistic field theory, (2) to use this regularization for defining a model
of stress-energy tensor that describes point-particles in post-Newtonian
expansions (e.g. 3PN) of general relativity. We consider specifically the case
of a system of two point-particles. We first perform a Lorentz transformation
of the system's variables which carries one of the particles to its rest frame,
next implement the Hadamard regularization within that frame, and finally come
back to the original variables with the help of the inverse Lorentz
transformation. The Lorentzian regularization is defined in this way up to any
order in the relativistic parameter 1/c^2. Following a previous work of ours,
we then construct the delta-pseudo-functions associated with this
regularization. Using an action principle, we derive the stress-energy tensor,
made of delta-pseudo-functions, of point-like particles. The equations of
motion take the same form as the geodesic equations of test particles on a
fixed background, but the role of the background is now played by the
regularized metric.Comment: 34 pages, to appear in J. Math. Phy
Inspiralling compact binaries in quasi-elliptical orbits: The complete third post-Newtonian energy flux
The instantaneous contributions to the 3PN gravitational wave luminosity from
the inspiral phase of a binary system of compact objects moving in a quasi
elliptical orbit is computed using the multipolar post-Minkowskian wave
generation formalism. The necessary inputs for this calculation include the 3PN
accurate mass quadrupole moment for general orbits and the mass octupole and
current quadrupole moments at 2PN. Using the recently obtained 3PN
quasi-Keplerian representation of elliptical orbits the flux is averaged over
the binary's orbit. Supplementing this by the important hereditary
contributions arising from tails, tails-of-tails and tails squared terms
calculated in a previous paper, the complete 3PN energy flux is obtained. The
final result presented in this paper would be needed for the construction of
ready-to-use templates for binaries moving on non-circular orbits, a plausible
class of sources not only for the space based detectors like LISA but also for
the ground based ones.Comment: 40 pages. Minor changes in text throughout. Minor typos in Eqs.
(3.3b), (7.7f), (8.19d) and (8.20) corrected. Matches the published versio
Hadamard Regularization
Motivated by the problem of the dynamics of point-particles in high
post-Newtonian (e.g. 3PN) approximations of general relativity, we consider a
certain class of functions which are smooth except at some isolated points
around which they admit a power-like singular expansion. We review the concepts
of (i) Hadamard ``partie finie'' of such functions at the location of singular
points, (ii) the partie finie of their divergent integral. We present and
investigate different expressions, useful in applications, for the latter
partie finie. To each singular function, we associate a partie-finie (Pf)
pseudo-function. The multiplication of pseudo-functions is defined by the
ordinary (pointwise) product. We construct a delta-pseudo-function on the class
of singular functions, which reduces to the usual notion of Dirac distribution
when applied on smooth functions with compact support. We introduce and analyse
a new derivative operator acting on pseudo-functions, and generalizing, in this
context, the Schwartz distributional derivative. This operator is uniquely
defined up to an arbitrary numerical constant. Time derivatives and partial
derivatives with respect to the singular points are also investigated. In the
course of the paper, all the formulas needed in the application to the physical
problem are derived.Comment: 50 pages, to appear in Journal of Mathematical Physic
Post-ISCO Ringdown Amplitudes in Extreme Mass Ratio Inspiral
An extreme mass ratio inspiral consists of two parts: adiabatic inspiral and
plunge. The plunge trajectory from the innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO)
is special (somewhat independent of initial conditions). We write an expression
for its solution in closed-form and for the emitted waveform. In particular we
extract an expression for the associated black-hole ringdown amplitudes, and
evaluate them numerically.Comment: 21 pages, 5 figures. v4: added section with numerical evaluation of
the ringdown amplitude
Time-symmetric initial data for binary black holes in numerical relativity
We look for physically realistic initial data in numerical relativity which
are in agreement with post-Newtonian approximations. We propose a particular
solution of the time-symmetric constraint equation, appropriate to two
momentarily static black holes, in the form of a conformal decomposition of the
spatial metric. This solution is isometric to the post-Newtonian metric up to
the 2PN order. It represents a non-linear deformation of the solution of Brill
and Lindquist, i.e. an asymptotically flat region is connected to two
asymptotically flat (in a certain weak sense) sheets, that are the images of
the two singularities through appropriate inversion transformations. The total
ADM mass M as well as the individual masses m_1 and m_2 (when they exist) are
computed by surface integrals performed at infinity. Using second order
perturbation theory on the Brill-Lindquist background, we prove that the
binary's interacting mass-energy M-m_1-m_2 is well-defined at the 2PN order and
in agreement with the known post-Newtonian result.Comment: 27 pages, to appear in Phys. Rev.
Is dark matter an illusion created by the gravitational polarization of the quantum vacuum?
Assuming that a particle and its antiparticle have the gravitational charge
of the opposite sign, the physical vacuum may be considered as a fluid of
virtual gravitational dipoles. Following this hypothesis, we present the first
indications that dark matter may not exist and that the phenomena for which it
was invoked might be explained by the gravitational polarization of the quantum
vacuum by the known baryonic matter.Comment: We have added an Appendix in order to show that the gravitational
polarization of the quantum vacuum allows the understanding of the
universality of the central surface density of galaxy dark matter haloes, the
cored dark matter haloes in dwarf spheroidal galaxies, the non-existence of
dark disks in spiral galaxies and distribution of dark matter after collision
of clusters of galaxie
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