Relativistic three-body effects in hierarchical triples

Abstract

The hierarchical three-body problem has many applications in relativistic astrophysics, and can play an important role in the formation of the binary black hole mergers detected by LIGO/Virgo. However, many studies have only included relativistic corrections responsible for the precession of pericenter of the inner and outer binaries, neglecting relativistic interactions between the three bodies. We revisit this problem and develop a fully consistent derivation of the secular three-body problem to first post-Newtonian order. We start with the Einstein-Infeld-Hoffman equations for a three-body system and expand the accelerations as a power series in the ratio of the semi-major axes of the inner ($a_1$) and outer ($a_2$) binary. We then perform a post-Keplerian, two-parameter expansion of the single-orbit-averaged Lagrange planetary equations in $\delta = v^2/c^2$ and $\epsilon = a_1/a_2$ using the method of multiple scales. Using this method, we derive previously-indentified secular effects at $\delta \epsilon^{5/2}$ order that arise directly from the equations of motion. We also calculate new secular effects through $\delta \epsilon^4$ order that can lead to eccentricity growth over many Lidov-Kozai cycles when the tertiary is much more massive than the inner binary. In such cases, inclusion of these effects can substantially alter the evolution of three-body systems as compared to an analysis in which they are neglected. Careful analysis of post-Newtonian three-body effects will be important to understand the formation and properties of coalescing binaries that form via three-body dynamical processes.