An improved effective-one-body Hamiltonian for spinning black-hole binaries

Building on a recent paper in which we computed the canonical Hamiltonian of a spinning test particle in curved spacetime, at linear order in the particle's spin, we work out an improved effective-one-body (EOB) Hamiltonian for spinning black-hole binaries. As in previous descriptions, we endow the effective particle not only with a mass m, but also with a spin S*. Thus, the effective particle interacts with the effective Kerr background (having spin S_Kerr) through a geodesic-type interaction and an additional spin-dependent interaction proportional to S*. When expanded in post-Newtonian (PN) orders, the EOB Hamiltonian reproduces the leading order spin-spin coupling and the spin-orbit coupling through 2.5PN order, for any mass-ratio. Also, it reproduces all spin-orbit couplings in the test-particle limit. Similarly to the test-particle limit case, when we restrict the EOB dynamics to spins aligned or antialigned with the orbital angular momentum, for which circular orbits exist, the EOB dynamics has several interesting features, such as the existence of an innermost stable circular orbit, a photon circular orbit, and a maximum in the orbital frequency during the plunge subsequent to the inspiral. These properties are crucial for reproducing the dynamics and gravitational-wave emission of spinning black-hole binaries, as calculated in numerical relativity simulations.Comment: 22 pages, 9 figures. Minor changes to match version accepted for publication in PR

Tidal response from scattering and the role of analytic continuation

The tidal response of a compact object is a key gravitational-wave observable encoding information about its interior. This link is subtle due to the nonlinearities of general relativity. We show that considering a scattering process bypasses challenges with potential ambiguities, as the tidal response is determined by the asymptotic in- and outgoing waves at null infinity. As an application of the general method, we analyze scalar waves scattering off a nonspinning black hole and demonstrate that the frequency-dependent tidal response calculated for arbitrary dimensions and multipoles reproduces known results for the Love number and absorption in limiting cases. In addition, we discuss the definition of the response based on gauge-invariant observables obtained from an effective action description, and clarify the role of analytic continuation for robustly (i) extracting the response and the physical information it contains, and (ii) distinguishing high-order post-Newtonian corrections from finite-size effects in a binary system. Our work is important for interpreting upcoming gravitational-wave data for subatomic physics of ultradense matter in neutron stars, probing black holes and gravity, and looking for beyond standard model fields

On the comparison of results regarding the post-Newtonian approximate treatment of the dynamics of extended spinning compact binaries

A brief review has been given of all the Hamiltonians, and effective potentials calculated hitherto covering the post-Newtonian (pN) dynamics of a two-body system. A method has been presented to compare (conservative) reduced Hamiltonians with non-reduced potentials directly at least up to the next-to-leading-pN order

Gravitational Bremsstrahlung and Hidden Supersymmetry of Spinning Bodies

The recently established formalism of a worldline quantum field theory, which describes the classical scattering of massive bodies in Einstein gravity, is generalized up to quadratic order in spin -- for a pair of Kerr black holes revealing a hidden ${\mathcal N}=2$ supersymmetry. The far-field time-domain waveform of the gravitational waves produced in such a spinning encounter is computed at leading order in the post-Minkowskian (weak field, but generic velocity) expansion, and exhibits this supersymmetry. From the waveform we extract the leading-order total radiated angular momentum in a generic reference frame, and the total radiated energy in the center-of-mass frame to leading order in a low-velocity approximation

SUSY in the Sky with Gravitons

Picture yourself in the wave zone of a gravitational scattering event of two massive, spinning compact bodies (black holes, neutron stars or stars). We show that this system of genuine astrophysical interest enjoys a hidden $\mathcal{N}=2$ supersymmetry, at least to the order of spin-squared (quadrupole) interactions in arbitrary $D$ spacetime dimensions. Using the ${\mathcal N}=2$ supersymmetric worldline action, augmented by finite-size corrections for the non-Kerr black hole case, we build a quadratic-in-spin extension to the worldline quantum field theory (WQFT) formalism introduced in our previous work, and calculate the two bodies' deflection and spin kick to sub-leading order in the post-Minkowskian expansion in Newton's constant $G$. For spins aligned to the normal vector of the scattering plane we also obtain the scattering angle. All $D$-dimensional observables are derived from an eikonal phase given as the free energy of the WQFT, that is invariant under the $\mathcal{N}=2$ supersymmetry transformations

Classical Gravitational Bremsstrahlung from a Worldline Quantum Field Theory

Using the recently established formalism of a worldline quantum field theory (WQFT) description of the classical scattering of two spinless black holes, we compute the far-field time-domain waveform of the gravitational waves produced in the encounter at leading order in the post-Minkowskian (weak field, but generic velocity) expansion. We reproduce previous results of Kovacs and Thorne in a highly economic way. Then using the waveform we extract the leading-order total radiated angular momentum, reproducing a recent result of Damour. Our work may enable crucial improvements of gravitational-wave predictions in the regime of large relative velocities

Canonical formulation of self-gravitating spinning-object systems

Based on the Arnowitt-Deser-Misner (ADM) canonical formulation of general relativity, a canonical formulation of gravitationally interacting classical spinning-object systems is given to linear order in spin. The constructed position, linear momentum and spin variables fulfill standard Poisson bracket relations. A spatially symmetric time gauge for the tetrad field is introduced. The achieved formulation is of fully reduced form without unresolved constraints, supplementary, gauge, or coordinate conditions. The canonical field momentum is not related to the extrinsic curvature of spacelike hypersurfaces in standard ADM form. A new reduction of the tetrad degrees of freedom to the Einstein form of the metric field is suggested.Comment: 6 pages. v2: extended version; identical to the published one. v3: corrected misprints in (24) and (39); improved notation; added note regarding a further reference

On the comparison of results regarding the post-Newtonian approximate treatment of the dynamics of extended spinning compact binaries

A brief review is given of all the Hamiltonians and effective potentials calculated hitherto covering the post-Newtonian (pN) dynamics of a two body system. A method is presented to compare (conservative) reduced Hamiltonians with nonreduced potentials directly at least up to the next-to-leading-pN order.Comment: Conference proceedings for the 7th International Conference on Gravitation and Cosmology (ICGC2011), 4 page

Spin-squared Hamiltonian of next-to-leading order gravitational interaction

The static, i.e., linear momentum independent, part of the next-to-leading order (NLO) gravitational spin(1)-spin(1) interaction Hamiltonian within the post-Newtonian (PN) approximation is calculated from a 3-dim. covariant ansatz for the Hamilton constraint. All coefficients in this ansatz can be uniquely fixed for black holes. The resulting Hamiltonian fits into the canonical formalism of Arnowitt, Deser, and Misner (ADM) and is given in their transverse-traceless (ADMTT) gauge. This completes the recent result for the momentum dependent part of the NLO spin(1)-spin(1) ADM Hamiltonian for binary black holes (BBH). Thus, all PN NLO effects up to quadratic order in spin for BBH are now given in Hamiltonian form in the ADMTT gauge. The equations of motion resulting from this Hamiltonian are an important step toward more accurate calculations of templates for gravitational waves.Comment: REVTeX4, 10 pages, v2: minor improvements in the presentation, v3: added omission in Eq. (4) and corrected coefficients in the result, Eq. (9); version to appear in Phys. Rev.