Gravitational waves from rotating and precessing rigid bodies: Simple models and applications to pulsars

Abstract

An axially symmetric, torque-free rigid body, rotating and precessing, emits gravitational quadrupole radiation at two frequencies, omega and 2 omega, corresponding to the l = 2, m = 1,2 spherical harmonics. The paper presents explicitly the waveforms of the two polarizations at both frequencies. From observations of gravitational waves, one can derive information about the body's orientation and its precession amplitude. Electromagnetic radiation emitted by a spot fixed on the surface of the body arrives in pulses at a mean frequency Omega which is typically different from omega. If the body is not axially symmetric but the amplitude of the precession is small, the gravitational radiation at the lower frequency omega is split into two frequencies on either side of the electromagnetic pulse frequency. Explicit waveforms for the two polarizations in this case are also presented.