Asymptotically Matched Spacetime Metric for Non-Precessing, Spinning Black Hole Binaries

Abstract

We construct a closed-form, fully analytical 4-metric that approximately represents the spacetime evolution of non-precessing, spinning black hole binaries from infinite separations up to a few orbits prior to merger. We employ the technique of asymptotic matching to join a perturbed Kerr metric in the neighborhood of each spinning black hole to a near-zone, post-Newtonian metric farther out. The latter is already naturally matched to a far-zone, post-Minkowskian metric that accounts for full temporal retardation. The result is a 4-metric that is approximately valid everywhere in space and in a small bundle of spatial hypersurfaces. We here restrict our attention to quasi- circular orbits, but the method is valid for any orbital motion or physical scenario, provided an overlapping region of validity or buffer zone exists. A simple extension of such a metric will allow for future studies of the accretion disk and jet dynamics around spinning back hole binaries