1,603 research outputs found
Final spin of a coalescing black-hole binary: an Effective-One-Body approach
We update the analytical estimate of the final spin of a coalescing
black-hole binary derived within the Effective-One-Body (EOB) approach. We
consider unequal-mass non-spinning black-hole binaries. It is found that a more
complete account of relevant physical effects (higher post-Newtonian accuracy,
ringdown losses) allows the {\it analytical} EOB estimate to `converge towards'
the recently obtained {\it numerical} results within 2%. This agreement
illustrates the ability of the EOB approach to capture the essential physics of
coalescing black-hole binaries. Our analytical approach allows one to estimate
the final spin of the black hole formed by coalescing binaries in a mass range
() which is not presently covered by numerical
simulations.Comment: 8 pages, two figures. To appear in Phys. Rev.
Binary black hole coalescence in the large-mass-ratio limit: the hyperboloidal layer method and waveforms at null infinity
We compute and analyze the gravitational waveform emitted to future null
infinity by a system of two black holes in the large mass ratio limit. We
consider the transition from the quasi-adiabatic inspiral to plunge, merger,
and ringdown. The relative dynamics is driven by a leading order in the mass
ratio, 5PN-resummed, effective-one-body (EOB), analytic radiation reaction. To
compute the waveforms we solve the Regge-Wheeler-Zerilli equations in the
time-domain on a spacelike foliation which coincides with the standard
Schwarzschild foliation in the region including the motion of the small black
hole, and is globally hyperboloidal, allowing us to include future null
infinity in the computational domain by compactification. This method is called
the hyperboloidal layer method, and is discussed here for the first time in a
study of the gravitational radiation emitted by black hole binaries. We
consider binaries characterized by five mass ratios, ,
that are primary targets of space-based or third-generation gravitational wave
detectors. We show significative phase differences between finite-radius and
null-infinity waveforms. We test, in our context, the reliability of the
extrapolation procedure routinely applied to numerical relativity waveforms. We
present an updated calculation of the gravitational recoil imparted to the
merger remnant by the gravitational wave emission. As a self consistency test
of the method, we show an excellent fractional agreement (even during the
plunge) between the 5PN EOB-resummed mechanical angular momentum loss and the
gravitational wave angular momentum flux computed at null infinity. New results
concerning the radiation emitted from unstable circular orbits are also
presented.Comment: 22 pages, 18 figures. Typos corrected. To appear in Phys. Rev.
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