Gravitational-wave Energy Flux Research Articles

Spin contributions to the gravitational-waveform modes for spin-aligned binaries at the 3.5PN order

We complete the post-Newtonian (PN) prediction at the 3.5PN order for the spin contributions to the gravitational waveforms emitted by inspiraling compact binaries, in the case of quasi-circular, equatorial orbits, where both spins are aligned with the orbital angular momentum. Using results from the multipolar post-Minkowskian wave generation formalism, we extend previous works that derived the dynamics and gravitational-wave energy flux and phasing, by computing the full waveform decomposed in spin-weighted spherical harmonics. This new calculation requires the computation of multipolar moments of higher multipolar order, new quadratic-in-spin contributions to the hereditary tail terms entering at the 3.5PN order, as well as other non-linear interactions between moments. When specialized to the test-mass limit, our results are equivalent to those obtained in the literature for the waveform emitted by a test-mass in equatorial, circular orbits around a Kerr black hole. We also compute the factorized modes for use in effective-one-body waveform models, correcting the 2.5PN nonspinning and 3PN quadratic-in-spin terms in the (2,1) mode used in current models.

Post-Newtonian waveforms from spinning scattering amplitudes

We derive the classical gravitational radiation from an aligned spin binary black hole on closed orbits, using a dictionary built from the 5-point QFT scattering amplitude of two massive particles exchanging and emitting a graviton. We show explicitly the agreement of the transverse-traceless components of the radiative linear metric perturbations — and the corresponding gravitational wave energy flux — at future null infinity, derived from the scattering amplitude and those derived utilizing an effective worldline action in conjunction with multipolar post-Minkowskian matching. At the tree-level, this result holds at leading orders in the black holes’ velocities and up to quadratic order in their spins. At sub-leading order in black holes’ velocities, we demonstrate a matching of the radiation field for quasi-circular orbits in the no-spin limit. At the level of the radiation field, and to leading order in the velocities, there exists a one-to-one correspondence between the binary black hole mass and current quadrupole moments, and the scalar and linear-in-spin scattering amplitudes, respectively. Therefore, we show explicitly that waveforms, needed to detect gravitational waves from inspiraling binary black holes, can be derived consistently, to the orders considered, from the classical limit of quantum scattering amplitudes.

Gravitational-Wave Energy Flux for Compact Binaries through Second Order in the Mass Ratio.

Within the framework of self-force theory, we compute the gravitational-wave energy flux through second order in the mass ratio for compact binaries in quasicircular orbits. Our results are consistent with post-Newtonian calculations in the weak field, and they agree remarkably well with numerical-relativity simulations of comparable-mass binaries in the strong field. We also find good agreement for binaries with a spinning secondary or a slowly spinning primary. Our results are key for accurately modeling extreme-mass-ratio inspirals and will be useful in modeling intermediate-mass-ratio systems.

Tidal effects in the gravitational-wave phase evolution of compact binary systems to next-to-next-to-leading post-Newtonian order

We compute the gravitational-wave (GW) energy flux up to the next-to-next-to-leading (NNL) order of tidal effects in a spinless compact binary system on quasi-circular orbits. Starting from an effective matter action, we obtain the stress-energy tensor of the system, which we use in a GW generation formalism based on multipolar-post-Minkowskian (MPM) and post-Newtonian (PN) approximations. The tidal contributions to the multipole moments of the system are first obtained, from which we deduce the instantaneous GW energy flux to NNL order (formally 7PN order). We also include the remaining tidal contributions of GW tails to the leading (formally 6.5PN) and NL (7.5PN) orders. Combining it with our previous work on the conservative equations of motion (EoM) and associated energy, we get the GW phase and frequency evolution through the flux-balance equation to the same NNL order. These results extend and complete several preceding results in the literature.

Energetics of two-body Hamiltonians in post-Minkowskian gravity

Advanced methods for computing perturbative, quantum-gravitational scattering amplitudes show great promise for improving our knowledge of classical gravitational dynamics. This is especially true in the weak-field and arbitrary-speed (post-Minkowskian, PM) regime, where the conservative dynamics at 3PM order has been recently determined for the first time, via an amplitude calculation. Such PM results are most relevantly applicable to relativistic scattering (unbound orbits), while bound/inspiraling binary systems, the most frequent sources of gravitational waves for the LIGO and Virgo detectors, are most suitably modeled by the weak-field and slow-motion (post-Newtonian, PN) approximation. Nonetheless, it has been suggested that PM results can independently lead to improved modeling of bound binary dynamics, especially when taken as inputs for effective-one-body (EOB) models of inspiraling binaries. Here, we initiate a quantitative study of this possibility, by comparing PM, EOB and PN predictions for the binding energy of a two-body system on a quasi-circular inspiraling orbit against results of numerical relativity (NR) simulations. The binding energy is one of the two central ingredients (the other being the gravitational-wave energy flux) that enters the computation of gravitational waveforms employed by LIGO and Virgo detectors, and for (quasi-)circular orbits it provides an accurate diagnostic of the conservative sector of a model. We find that, whereas 3PM results do improve the agreement with NR with respect to 2PM (especially when used in the EOB framework), it is crucial to push PM calculations at higher orders if one wants to achieve better performances than current waveform models used for LIGO/Virgo data analysis.

Gravitational waves from spinning binary black holes at the leading post-Newtonian orders at all orders in spin

We determine the binding energy, the total gravitational wave energy flux, and the gravitational wave modes for a binary of rapidly spinning black holes, working in linearized gravity and at leading orders in the orbital velocity, but to all orders in the black holes' spins. Though the spins are treated nonperturbatively, surprisingly, the binding energy and the flux are given by simple analytical expressions which are finite (respectively third- and fifth-order) polynomials in the spins. Our final results are restricted to the important case of quasi-circular orbits with the black holes' spins aligned with the orbital angular momentum.

Directional Limits on Persistent Gravitational Waves from Advanced LIGO's First Observing Run.

We employ gravitational-wave radiometry to map the stochastic gravitational wave background expected from a variety of contributing mechanisms and test the assumption of isotropy using data from the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory's (aLIGO) first observing run. We also search for persistent gravitational waves from point sources with only minimal assumptions over the 20-1726Hz frequency band. Finding no evidence of gravitational waves from either point sources or a stochastic background, we set limits at 90%confidence. For broadband point sources, we report upper limits on the gravitational wave energy flux per unit frequency in the range F_{α,Θ}(f)<(0.1-56)×10^{-8} erg cm^{-2} s^{-1} Hz^{-1}(f/25 Hz)^{α-1} depending on the sky location Θ and the spectral power index α. For extended sources, we report upper limits on the fractional gravitational wave energy density required to close the Universe of Ω(f,Θ)<(0.39-7.6)×10^{-8} sr^{-1}(f/25 Hz)^{α} depending on Θ and α. Directed searches for narrowband gravitational waves from astrophysically interesting objects (Scorpius X-1, Supernova 1987 A, and the Galactic Center) yield median frequency-dependent limits on strain amplitude of h_{0}<(6.7,5.5, and 7.0)×10^{-25}, respectively, at the most sensitive detector frequencies between 130-175Hz. This represents a mean improvement of a factor of 2 across the band compared to previous searches of this kind for these sky locations, considering the different quantities of strain constrained in each case.

Gravitational-wave tail effects to quartic non-linear order

Gravitational-wave tails are due to the backscattering of linear waves onto the space-time curvature generated by the total mass of the matter source. The dominant tails correspond to quadratic non-linear interactions and arise at the one-and-a-half post-Newtonian (1.5 PN) order in the gravitational waveform. The ‘tails-of-tails’, which are cubic non-linear effects appearing at the 3 PN order in the waveform, are also known. We derive here higher non-linear tail effects, namely those associated with quartic non-linear interactions or ‘tails-of-tails-of-tails’, which are shown to arise at the 4.5 PN order. As an application, we obtain at that order the complete coefficient in the total gravitational-wave energy flux of compact binary systems moving on circular orbits. Our result perfectly agrees with black-hole perturbation calculations in the limit of extreme mass ratio of the two compact objects.

Quadratic-in-spin effects in the orbital dynamics and gravitational-wave energy flux of compact binaries at the 3PN order

We investigate the dynamics of spinning binaries of compact objects at the next-to-leading order in the quadratic-in-spin effects, which corresponds to the third post-Newtonian order (3PN). Using a Dixon-type multipolar formalism for spinning point particles endowed with spin-induced quadrupoles and computing iteratively in harmonic coordinates the relevant pieces of the PN metric within the near zone, we derive the post-Newtonian equations of motion as well as the equations of spin precession. We find full equivalence with available results. We then focus on the far-zone field produced by those systems and obtain the previously unknown 3PN spin contributions to the gravitational-wave energy flux by means of the multipolar post-Minkowskian wave generation formalism. Our results are presented in the center-of-mass frame for generic orbits, before being further specialized to the case of spin-aligned, circular orbits. Based on the energy balance equation, we derive the orbital phase of the binary at the order 3PN including all conservative spin effects and briefly discuss the relevance of the new terms.

Cubic-order spin effects in the dynamics and gravitational wave energy flux of compact object binaries

We investigate cubic-in-spin effects for inspiralling compact object binaries, both in the dynamics and in the energy flux emitted in gravitational waves, at the leading post-Newtonian order. We use a Lagrangian formalism to implement finite-size effects, and extend it to cubic order in the spins, which corresponds to the octupolar order in a multipolar decomposition. This formalism allows us to derive the equation of motion, equations of precession for the spin, and stress–energy tensor of each body in covariant form, and admits a formal generalization to any multipolar order. For spin-induced multipoles, i.e.in the case where the rotation of the compact object is solely responsible for the additional multipole moments, we find a unique structure for the octupolar moment representing cubic-in-spin effects. We apply these results to compute the associated effects in the dynamics of compact binary systems, and deduce the corresponding terms in the energy loss rate due to gravitational waves. These effects enter at the third-and-a-half post-Newtonian order, and can be important for binaries involving rapidly spinning black holes. We provide simplified results for spin-aligned circular orbits, and discuss the quantitative importance of the new contributions.

A new gravitational wave generation algorithm for particle perturbations of the Kerr spacetime

We present a new approach to solve the 2+1 Teukolsky equation for gravitational perturbations of a Kerr black hole. Our approach relies on a new horizon penetrating, hyperboloidal foliation of Kerr spacetime and spatial compactification. In particular, we present a framework for waveform generation from point-particle perturbations. Extensive tests of a time domain implementation in the Teukode code are presented. The code can efficiently deliver waveforms at future null infinity. The accuracy and convergence of the waveforms’ phase and amplitude is demonstrated. As a first application of the method, we compute the gravitational waveforms from inspiraling and coalescing black-hole binaries in the large-mass-ratio limit. The smaller mass black hole is modeled as a point particle whose dynamics is driven by an effective-one-body-resummed analytical radiation reaction force. We compare the analytical, mechanical angular momentum loss (computed using two different prescriptions) to the gravitational wave angular momentum flux. We find that higher-order post-Newtonian corrections are needed to improve the consistency for rapidly spinning binaries. We characterize the multipolar waveform as a function of the black-hole spin. Close to merger, the subdominant multipolar amplitudes (notably the m = 0 ones) are enhanced for retrograde orbits with respect to prograde ones. We argue that this effect mirrors nonnegligible deviations from the circularity of the dynamics during the late-plunge and merger phase. For the first time, we compute the gravitational wave energy flux flowing into the black hole during the inspiral using a time-domain formalism proposed by Poisson. Finally, a self-consistent, iterative method to compute the gravitational wave fluxes at leading-order in the mass of the particle is developed. The method can be used alternatively to the analytical radiation reaction in cases where the analytical information is poor or not sufficient. Specifically, we apply it to compute dynamics and waveforms for a rapidly rotating black hole with dimensionless spin parameter . For this case, the simulation with the consistent flux differs from the one with the analytical flux by gravitational wave cycles over a total of about 250 cycles. In this simulation the horizon absorption accounts for about gravitational wave cycles.

Taming the post-Newtonian expansion: Simplifying the modes of the gravitational wave energy flux at infinity for a point particle in a circular orbit around a Schwarzschild black hole

(Abridged) High-order terms in the post-Newtonian (PN) expansions of various quantities for compact binaries exhibit a combinatorial increase in complexity, including ever-increasing numbers of transcendentals. Here we consider the gravitational wave energy flux at infinity from a point particle in a circular orbit around a Schwarzschild black hole, which is known to 22PN beyond the lowest-order Newtonian prediction, at which point each order has over 1000 terms. We introduce a factorization that considerably simplifies the spherical harmonic modes of the energy flux (and thus also the amplitudes of the spherical harmonic modes of the gravitational waves); it is likely that much of the complexity this factorization removes is due to curved-space wave propagation (e.g., tail effects). For the modes with azimuthal number l of 7 or greater, this factorization reduces the expressions for the modes that enter the 22PN total energy flux to pure integer PN series with rational coefficients, which amounts to a reduction of up to a factor of ~150 in the total number of terms in a given mode. The reduction in complexity becomes less dramatic for smaller l, due to the structure of the expansion, though the factorization is still able to remove all the half-integer PN terms. For the 22PN l = 2 modes, this factorization still reduces the total number of terms (and size) by a factor of ~10 and gives purely rational coefficients through 8PN. This factorization also improves the convergence of the series, though we find the exponential resummation introduced for the full energy flux by Isoyama et al. to be even more effective at improving the convergence of the individual modes, producing improvements of over four orders of magnitude over the original series for some modes. However, the exponential resummation is not as effective at simplifying the series, particularly for the higher-order modes.

Modeling the horizon-absorbed gravitational flux for equatorial-circular orbits in Kerr spacetime

We propose an improved analytical model for the horizon-absorbed gravitational-wave energy flux of a small body in circular orbit in the equatorial plane of a Kerr black hole. Post-Newtonian (PN) theory provides an analytical description of the multipolar components of the absorption flux through Taylor expansions in the orbital frequency. Building on previous work, we construct a mode-by-mode factorization of the absorbed flux whose Taylor expansion agrees with current PN results. This factorized form significantly improves the agreement with numerical results obtained with a frequency-domain Teukolsky code, which evolves through a sequence of circular orbits up to the photon orbit. We perform the comparison between model and numerical data for dimensionless Kerr spins $\ensuremath{-}0.99\ensuremath{\le}q\ensuremath{\le}0.99$ and for frequencies up to the light ring of the Kerr black hole. Our proposed model enforces the presence of a zero in the flux at an orbital frequency equal to the frequency of the horizon, as predicted by perturbation theory. It also reproduces the expected divergence of the flux close to the light ring. Neither of these features are captured by the Taylor-expanded PN flux. Our proposed absorption flux can also help improve models for the inspiral, merger, ringdown of small mass-ratio binary systems.

Horizon-absorbed energy flux in circularized, nonspinning black-hole binaries, and its effective-one-body representation

We propose, within the effective one body (EOB) approach, a new, resummed, analytical representation of the gravitational wave energy flux absorbed by a system of two circularized (nonspinning) black holes. This expression is such to be well-behaved in the strong-field, fast motion regime, notably up to the EOB-defined last unstable orbit. Building conceptually upon the procedure adopted to resum the multipolar asymptotic energy flux, we introduce a {\it multiplicative} decomposition of the multipolar absorbed flux made by three factors: (i) the leading-order contribution, (ii) an "effective source" and (iii) a new residual amplitude correction $(\tilde{\rho}_\lm^H)^{2\ell}$. In the test-mass limit, we use a frequency-domain perturbative approach to accurately compute numerically the horizon-absorbed fluxes along a sequence of stable and unstable circular orbits and we extract from them the functions $\tilde{\rho}_\lm^H$. These quantities are then fitted via rational functions. The resulting analytically represented test-mass knowledge is then suitably {\it hybridized} with lower-order analytical information that is valid for any mass ratio. This yields a resummed representation of the absorbed flux for a generic, circularized, nonspinning black-hole binary. Our result adds new information to the state-of-the-art calculation of the absorbed flux at fractional 5 post-Newtonian order [S. Taylor and E. Poisson, Phys. Rev. D {\bf 78} 084016 (2008)], that is recovered in the weak-field limit approximation by construction.

Tail-induced spin-orbit effect in the gravitational radiation of compact binaries

Gravitational waves contain tail effects which are due to the back-scattering of linear waves in the curved space-time geometry around the source. In this paper we improve the knowledge and accuracy of the two-body inspiraling post-Newtonian (PN) dynamics and gravitational-wave signal by computing the spin-orbit terms induced by tail effects. Notably, we derive those terms at 3PN order in the gravitational-wave energy flux, and 2.5PN and 3PN orders in the wave polarizations. This is then used to derive the spin-orbit tail effects in the phasing through 3PN order. Our results can be employed to carry out more accurate comparisons with numerical-relativity simulations and to improve the accuracy of analytical templates aimed at describing the whole process of inspiral, merger and ringdown.

Energy Content of Gravitation as a Way to Quantify Both Entropy and Information Generation in the Early Universe

Based upon Alcubierre’s formalism about energy flux of gravitational waves, as well as Saunder’s treatment of temperature dependence of the Hubble parameter in the early universe, we initiate a particle count treatment of gravitons, and subsequent entropy generation which gives, via the standard model treatment of the FRW metric a way to explain/justify a value of entropy of the order of S～106-107 at the very onset of inflation.

Gravitational radiative corrections from effective field theory

In this paper we construct an effective field theory (EFT) that describes long wavelength gravitational radiation from compact systems. To leading order, this EFT consists of the multipole expansion, which we describe in terms of a diffeomorphism invariant point particle Lagrangian. The EFT also systematically captures "post-Minkowskian" corrections to the multipole expansion due to non-linear terms in general relativity. Specifically, we compute long distance corrections from the coupling of the (mass) monopole moment to the quadrupole moment, including up to two mass insertions. Along the way, we encounter both logarithmic short distance (UV) and long wavelength (IR) divergences. We show that the UV divergences can be (1) absorbed into a renormalization of the multipole moments and (2) resummed via the renormalization group. The IR singularities are shown to cancel from properly defined physical observables. As a concrete example of the formalism, we use this EFT to reproduce a number of post-Newtonian corrections to the gravitational wave energy flux from non-relativistic binaries, including long distance effects up to 3PN ($v^6$) order. Our results verify that the factorization of scales proposed in the NRGR framework of Goldberger and Rothstein is consistent up to order 3PN.

Erratum: Higher-order spin effects in the dynamics of compact binaries. II. Radiation field [Phys. Rev. D74, 104034 (2006)

Motivated by the search for gravitational waves emitted by binary black holes, we investigate the gravitational radiation field of point particles with spins within the framework of the multipolar-post-Newtonian wave generation formalism. We compute: (i) the spin-orbit (SO) coupling effects in the binary's mass and current quadrupole moments one post-Newtonian (1PN) order beyond the dominant effect, (ii) the SO contributions in the gravitational-wave energy flux and (iii) the secular evolution of the binary's orbital phase up to 2.5PN order. Crucial ingredients for obtaining the 2.5PN contribution in the orbital phase are the binary's energy and the spin precession equations, derived in paper I of this series. These results provide more accurate gravitational-wave templates to be used in the data analysis of rapidly rotating Kerr-type black-hole binaries with the ground-based detectors LIGO, Virgo, GEO 600 and TAMA300, and the space-based detector LISA.

Higher-dimensional numerical relativity: Formulation and code tests

We derive a formalism of numerical relativity for higher-dimensional spacetimes and develop numerical codes for simulating a wide variety of five-dimensional (5D) spacetimes for the first time. First, the Baumgarte-Shapiro-Shibata-Nakamura formalism is extended for arbitrary spacetime dimensions $D\ensuremath{\ge}4$, and then, the so-called cartoon method, which was originally proposed as a robust method for simulating axisymmetric 4D spacetimes, is described for 5D spacetimes of several types of symmetries. Implementing 5D numerical relativity codes with the cartoon methods, we perform test simulations by evolving a 5D Schwarzschild spacetime and a 5D spacetime composed of a gravitational-wave packet of small amplitude. The numerical simulations are stably performed for a sufficiently long time, as done in the 4D case, and the obtained numerical results agree well with the analytic solutions: The numerical solutions are shown to converge at the correct order. We also confirm that a long-term accurate evolution of the 5D Schwarzschild spacetime is feasible using the so-called puncture approach. In addition, we derive the Landau-Lifshitz pseudotensor in arbitrary dimensions, and show that it gives a robust tool for computing the energy flux of gravitational waves. The formulations and methods developed in this paper provide a powerful tool for studying nonlinear dynamics of higher-dimensional gravity.

Improved analytical description of inspiralling and coalescing black-hole binaries

We present an analytical formalism, within the effective-one-body framework, which predicts gravitational-wave signals from inspiralling and coalescing black-hole binaries that agree, within numerical errors, with the results of the currently most accurate numerical-relativity simulations for several different mass ratios. In the equal-mass case, the gravitational-wave energy flux predicted by our formalism agrees, within numerical errors, with the most accurate numerical-relativity energy flux. We think that our formalism opens a realistic possibility of constructing a sufficiently accurate, large bank of gravitational-wave templates, as needed both for detection and data analysis of (nonspinning) coalescing binary black holes.