Towards the solution of the relativistic gravitational radiation reaction problem for binary black holes

Here we present the results of applying the generalized Riemann zeta-function regularization method to the gravitational radiation reaction problem. We analyze in detail the headon collision of two nonspinning black holes with extreme mass ratio. The resulting reaction force on the smaller hole is repulsive. We discuss the possible extensions of these method to generic orbits and spinning black holes. The determination of corrected trajectories allows to add second perturbative corrections with the consequent increase in the accuracy of computed waveforms.Comment: Contribution to the Proceedings of the 3rd LISA Symposiu

Gauge Problem in the Gravitational Self-Force II. First Post Newtonian Force under Regge-Wheeler Gauge

We discuss the gravitational self-force on a particle in a black hole space-time. For a point particle, the full (bare) self-force diverges. It is known that the metric perturbation induced by a particle can be divided into two parts, the direct part (or the S part) and the tail part (or the R part), in the harmonic gauge, and the regularized self-force is derived from the R part which is regular and satisfies the source-free perturbed Einstein equations. In this paper, we consider a gauge transformation from the harmonic gauge to the Regge-Wheeler gauge in which the full metric perturbation can be calculated, and present a method to derive the regularized self-force for a particle in circular orbit around a Schwarzschild black hole in the Regge-Wheeler gauge. As a first application of this method, we then calculate the self-force to first post-Newtonian order. We find the correction to the total mass of the system due to the presence of the particle is correctly reproduced in the force at the Newtonian order.Comment: Revtex4, 43 pages, no figure. Version to be published in PR

The singular field used to calculate the self-force on non-spinning and spinning particles

The singular field of a point charge has recently been described in terms of a new Green's function of curved spacetime. This singular field plays an important role in the calculation of the self-force acting upon the particle. We provide a method for calculating the singular field and a catalog of expansions of the singular field associated with the geodesic motion of monopole and dipole sources for scalar, electromagnetic and gravitational fields. These results can be used, for example, to calculate the effects of the self-force acting on a particle as it moves through spacetime.Comment: 14 pages; addressed referee's comments; published in PhysRev

Self-force of a scalar field for circular orbits about a Schwarzschild black hole

The foundations are laid for the numerical computation of the actual worldline for a particle orbiting a black hole and emitting gravitational waves. The essential practicalities of this computation are here illustrated for a scalar particle of infinitesimal size and small but finite scalar charge. This particle deviates from a geodesic because it interacts with its own retarded field \psi^\ret. A recently introduced Green's function G^\SS precisely determines the singular part, \psi^\SS, of the retarded field. This part exerts no force on the particle. The remainder of the field \psi^\R = \psi^\ret - \psi^\SS is a vacuum solution of the field equation and is entirely responsible for the self-force. A particular, locally inertial coordinate system is used to determine an expansion of \psi^\SS in the vicinity of the particle. For a particle in a circular orbit in the Schwarzschild geometry, the mode-sum decomposition of the difference between \psi^\ret and the dominant terms in the expansion of \psi^\SS provide a mode-sum decomposition of an approximation for $\psi^\R$ from which the self-force is obtained. When more terms are included in the expansion, the approximation for $\psi^\R$ is increasingly differentiable, and the mode-sum for the self-force converges more rapidly.Comment: RevTex, 31 pages, 1 figure, modified abstract, more details of numerical method

Self-force on a scalar particle in spherically-symmetric spacetime via mode-sum regularization: radial trajectories

Recently, we proposed a method for calculating the ``radiation reaction'' self-force exerted on a charged particle moving in a strong field orbit in a black hole spacetime. In this approach, one first calculates the contribution to the ``tail'' part of the self force due to each multipole mode of the particle's self field. A certain analytic procedure is then applied to regularize the (otherwise divergent) sum over modes. This involves the derivation of certain regularization parameters using local analysis of the (retarded) Green's function. In the present paper we present a detailed formulation of this mode-sum regularization scheme for a scalar charge on a class of static spherically-symmetric backgrounds (including, e.g., the Schwarzschild, Reissner-Nordstr\"{o}m, and Schwarzschild-de Sitter spacetimes). We fully implement the regularization scheme for an arbitrary radial trajectory (not necessarily geodesic) by explicitly calculating all necessary regularization parameters in this case

Universal Self Force from an Extended-Object Approach

We present a consistent extended-object approach for determining the self force acting on an accelerating charged particle. In this approach one considers an extended charged object of finite size $\epsilon$, and calculates the overall contribution of the mutual electromagnetic forces. Previous implementations of this approach yielded divergent terms $\propto 1/\epsilon$ that could not be cured by mass-renormalization. Here we explain the origin of this problem and fix it. We obtain a consistent, universal, expression for the extended-object self force, which conforms with Dirac's well known formula.Comment: Latex, one postscript figure, 4 page

Asymptotic power-law tails of massive scalar fields in Reissner-Nordstr\"{o}m background

We investigate dominant late-time tail behaviors of massive scalar fields in nearly extreme Reissner-Nordstr\"{o}m background. It is shown that the oscillatory tail of the scalar fields has the decay rate of $t^{-5/6}$ at asymptotically late times. The physical mechanism by which the asymptotic $t^{-5/6}$ tail yields and the relation between the field mass and the time scale when the tail begins to dominate, are discussed in terms of resonance backscattering due to spacetime curvature.Comment: 18 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication in Physical Review

Late-time decay of scalar perturbations outside rotating black holes

We present an analytic method for calculating the late-time tails of a linear scalar field outside a Kerr black hole. We give the asymptotic behavior at timelike infinity (for fixed $r$), at future null infinity, and along the event horizon (EH). In all three asymptotic regions we find a power-law decay. We show that the power indices describing the decay of the various modes at fixed $r$ differ from the corresponding Schwarzschild values. Also, the scalar field oscillates along the null generators of the EH (with advanced-time frequency proportional to the mode's magnetic number $m$)