Gravitational-Wave Recoil from the Ringdown Phase of Coalescing Black Hole Binaries

The gravitational recoil or "kick" of a black hole formed from the merger of two orbiting black holes, and caused by the anisotropic emission of gravitational radiation, is an astrophysically important phenomenon. We combine (i) an earlier calculation, using post-Newtonian theory, of the kick velocity accumulated up to the merger of two non-spinning black holes, (ii) a "close-limit approximation" calculation of the radiation emitted during the ringdown phase, and based on a solution of the Regge-Wheeler and Zerilli equations using initial data accurate to second post-Newtonian order. We prove that ringdown radiation produces a significant "anti-kick". Adding the contributions due to inspiral, merger and ringdown phases, our results for the net kick velocity agree with those from numerical relativity to 10-15 percent over a wide range of mass ratios, with a maximum velocity of 180 km/s at a mass ratio of 0.38.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures; to appear in Class. Quant. Gra

Last Men Standing: Chlamydatus Portraits and Public Life in Late Antique Corinth

Notable among the marble sculptures excavated at Corinth are seven portraits of men wearing the long chlamys of Late Antique imperial office. This unusual costume, contemporary portrait heads, and inscribed statue bases all help confirm that new public statuary was created and erected at Corinth during the 4th and 5th centuries. These chlamydatus portraits, published together here for the first time, are likely to represent the Governor of Achaia in his capital city, in the company of local benefactors. Among the last works of the ancient sculptural tradition, they form a valuable source of information on public life in Late Antique Corinth