Introductory lectures on the Effective One Body formalism

The Effective One Body (EOB) formalism is an analytical approach which aims at providing an accurate description of the motion and radiation of coalescing binary black holes. We present a brief review of the basic elements of this approach.Comment: 22 pages, 3 figures, lectures given at the Second ICRANet Stueckelberg Workshop on Relativistic Field Theories (Pescara, Italy, September 3-8, 2007); to be published in the International Journal of Modern Physics

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

Third post-Newtonian dynamics of compact binaries: Equations of motion in the center-of-mass frame

The equations of motion of compact binary systems and their associated Lagrangian formulation have been derived in previous works at the third post-Newtonian (3PN) approximation of general relativity in harmonic coordinates. In the present work we investigate the binary's relative dynamics in the center-of-mass frame (center of mass located at the origin of the coordinates). We obtain the 3PN-accurate expressions of the center-of-mass positions and equations of the relative binary motion. We show that the equations derive from a Lagrangian (neglecting the radiation reaction), from which we deduce the conserved center-of-mass energy and angular momentum at the 3PN order. The harmonic-coordinates center-of-mass Lagrangian is equivalent, {\it via} a contact transformation of the particles' variables, to the center-of-mass Hamiltonian in ADM coordinates that is known from the post-Newtonian ADM-Hamiltonian formalism. As an application we investigate the dynamical stability of circular binary orbits at the 3PN order.Comment: 31 pages, 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

General relativistic dynamics of compact binaries at the third post-Newtonian order

The general relativistic corrections in the equations of motion and associated energy of a binary system of point-like masses are derived at the third post-Newtonian (3PN) order. The derivation is based on a post-Newtonian expansion of the metric in harmonic coordinates at the 3PN approximation. The metric is parametrized by appropriate non-linear potentials, which are evaluated in the case of two point-particles using a Lorentzian version of an Hadamard regularization which has been defined in previous works. Distributional forms and distributional derivatives constructed from this regularization are employed systematically. The equations of motion of the particles are geodesic-like with respect to the regularized metric. Crucial contributions to the acceleration are associated with the non-distributivity of the Hadamard regularization and the violation of the Leibniz rule by the distributional derivative. The final equations of motion at the 3PN order are invariant under global Lorentz transformations, and admit a conserved energy (neglecting the radiation reaction force at the 2.5PN order). However, they are not fully determined, as they depend on one arbitrary constant, which reflects probably a physical incompleteness of the point-mass regularization. The results of this paper should be useful when comparing theory to the observations of gravitational waves from binary systems in future detectors VIRGO and LIGO.Comment: 78 pages, submitted to Phys. Rev. D, with minor modification

Relativistic Celestial Mechanics with PPN Parameters

Starting from the global parametrized post-Newtonian (PPN) reference system with two PPN parameters $\gamma$ and $\beta$ we consider a space-bounded subsystem of matter and construct a local reference system for that subsystem in which the influence of external masses reduces to tidal effects. Both the metric tensor of the local PPN reference system in the first post-Newtonian approximation as well as the coordinate transformations between the global PPN reference system and the local one are constructed in explicit form. The terms proportional to $\eta=4\beta-\gamma-3$ reflecting a violation of the equivalence principle are discussed in detail. We suggest an empirical definition of multipole moments which are intended to play the same role in PPN celestial mechanics as the Blanchet-Damour moments in General Relativity. Starting with the metric tensor in the local PPN reference system we derive translational equations of motion of a test particle in that system. The translational and rotational equations of motion for center of mass and spin of each of $N$ extended massive bodies possessing arbitrary multipole structure are derived. As an application of the general equations of motion a monopole-spin dipole model is considered and the known PPN equations of motion of mass monopoles with spins are rederived.Comment: 71 page

Third post-Newtonian dynamics of compact binaries: Noetherian conserved quantities and equivalence between the harmonic-coordinate and ADM-Hamiltonian formalisms

A Lagrangian from which derive the third post-Newtonian (3PN) equations of motion of compact binaries (neglecting the radiation reaction damping) is obtained. The 3PN equations of motion were computed previously by Blanchet and Faye in harmonic coordinates. The Lagrangian depends on the harmonic-coordinate positions, velocities and accelerations of the two bodies. At the 3PN order, the appearance of one undetermined physical parameter \lambda reflects an incompleteness of the point-mass regularization used when deriving the equations of motion. In addition the Lagrangian involves two unphysical (gauge-dependent) constants r'_1 and r'_2 parametrizing some logarithmic terms. The expressions of the ten Noetherian conserved quantities, associated with the invariance of the Lagrangian under the Poincar\'e group, are computed. By performing an infinitesimal ``contact'' transformation of the motion, we prove that the 3PN harmonic-coordinate Lagrangian is physically equivalent to the 3PN Arnowitt-Deser-Misner Hamiltonian obtained recently by Damour, Jaranowski and Sch\"afer.Comment: 30 pages, to appear in Classical and Quantum Gravit

Gravitational field and equations of motion of compact binaries to 5/2 post-Newtonian order

We derive the gravitational field and equations of motion of compact binary systems up to the 5/2 post-Newtonian approximation of general relativity (where radiation-reaction effects first appear). The approximate post-Newtonian gravitational field might be used in the problem of initial conditions for the numerical evolution of binary black-hole space-times. On the other hand we recover the Damour-Deruelle 2.5PN equations of motion of compact binary systems. Our method is based on an expression of the post-Newtonian metric valid for general (continuous) fluids. We substitute into the fluid metric the standard stress-energy tensor appropriate for a system of two point-like particles. We remove systematically the infinite self-field of each particle by means of the Hadamard partie finie regularization.Comment: 41 pages to appear in Physical Review

Equation of motion for relativistic compact binaries with the strong field point particle limit : the second and half post-Newtonian order

We study the equation of motion appropriate to an inspiralling binary star system whose constituent stars have strong internal gravity. We use the post-Newtonian approximation with the strong field point particle limit by which we can introduce into general relativity a notion of a point-like particle with strong internal gravity without using Dirac delta distribution. Besides this limit, to deal with strong internal gravity we express the equation of motion in surface integral forms and calculate these integrals explicitly. As a result we obtain the equation of motion for a binary of compact bodies accurate through the second and half post-Newtonian (2.5 PN) order. This equation is derived in the harmonic coordinate. Our resulting equation perfectly agrees with Damour and Deruelle 2.5 PN equation of motion. Hence it is found that the 2.5 PN equation of motion is applicable to a relativistic compact binary.Comment: 48 pages, revtex, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Gravitational field and equations of motion of spinning compact binaries to 2.5 post-Newtonian order

We derive spin-orbit coupling effects on the gravitational field and equations of motion of compact binaries in the 2.5 post-Newtonian approximation to general relativity, one PN order beyond where spin effects first appear. Our method is based on that of Blanchet, Faye, and Ponsot, who use a post-Newtonian metric valid for general (continuous) fluids and represent pointlike compact objects with a delta-function stress-energy tensor, regularizing divergent terms by taking the Hadamard finite part. To obtain post-Newtonian spin effects, we use a different delta-function stress-energy tensor introduced by Bailey and Israel. In a future paper we will use the 2.5PN equations of motion for spinning bodies to derive the gravitational-wave luminosity and phase evolution of binary inspirals, which will be useful in constructing matched filters for signal analysis. The gravitational field derived here may help in posing initial data for numerical evolutions of binary black hole mergers.Comment: 18 pages, no figur