Self-force Corrections Research Articles

Gravitational self-force corrections to two-body tidal interactions and the effective one-body formalism

Tidal interactions have a significant influence on the late dynamics of compact binary systems, which constitute the prime targets of the upcoming network of gravitational-wave detectors. We refine the theoretical description of tidal interactions (hitherto known only to the second post-Newtonian level) by extending our recently developed analytic self-force formalism, for extreme mass-ratio binary systems, to the computation of several tidal invariants. Specifically, we compute, to linear order in the mass ratio and to the 7.5$^{\rm th}$ post-Newtonian order, the following tidal invariants: the square and the cube of the gravitoelectric quadrupolar tidal tensor, the square of the gravitomagnetic quadrupolar tidal tensor, and the square of the gravitoelectric octupolar tidal tensor. Our high-accuracy analytic results are compared to recent numerical self-force tidal data by Dolan et al. \cite{Dolan:2014pja}, and, notably, provide an analytic understanding of the light ring asymptotic behavior found by them. We transcribe our kinematical tidal-invariant results in the more dynamically significant effective one-body description of the tidal interaction energy. By combining, in a synergetic manner, analytical and numerical results, we provide simple, accurate analytic representations of the global, strong-field behavior of the gravitoelectric quadrupolar tidal factor. A striking finding is that the linear-in-mass-ratio piece in the latter tidal factor changes sign in the strong-field domain, to become negative (while its previously known second post-Newtonian approximant was always positive). We, however, argue that this will be more than compensated by a probable fast growth, in the strong-field domain, of the nonlinear-in-mass-ratio contributions in the tidal factor.

Gravitational self-force correction to the innermost stable circular equatorial orbit of a Kerr black hole.

For a self-gravitating particle of mass μ in orbit around a Kerr black hole of mass M ≫ μ, we compute the O(μ/M) shift in the frequency of the innermost stable circular equatorial orbit due to the conservative piece of the gravitational self-force acting on the particle. Our treatment is based on a Hamiltonian formulation of the dynamics in terms of geodesic motion in a certain locally defined effective smooth spacetime. We recover the same result using the so-called first law of binary black-hole mechanics. We give numerical results for the innermost stable circular equatorial orbit frequency shift as a function of the black hole's spin amplitude, and compare with predictions based on the post-Newtonian approximation and the effective one-body model. Our results provide an accurate strong-field benchmark for spin effects in the general-relativistic two-body problem.

Self-forced evolutions of an implicit rotating source: A natural framework to model comparable and intermediate mass-ratio systems from inspiral through ringdown

We develop a waveform model to describe the inspiral, merger and ringdown of binary systems with comparable and intermediate mass-ratios. This model incorporates first-order conservative self-force corrections to the energy and angular momentum, which are valid in the strong-field regime [1]. We model the radiative part of the self-force by deriving second-order radiative corrections to the energy flux. These corrections are obtained by minimizing the phase discrepancy between our self-force model and the effective one body model [2, 3] for a variety of mass-ratios. We show that our model performs substantially better than post-Newtonian approximants currently used to model neutron star-black hole mergers from early inspiral to the innermost stable circular orbit. In order to match the late inspiral evolution onto the plunge regime, we extend the 'transition phase' developed by Ori and Thorne [4] by including finite mass-ratio corrections and modelling the orbital phase evolution using an implicit rotating source [5]. We explicitly show that the implicit rotating source approach provides a natural transition from late-time radiation to ringdown that is equivalent to ringdown waveform modelling based on a sum of quasinormal modes.

Conditions for sustained orbital resonances in extreme mass ratio inspirals

We investigate the possibility of sustained orbital resonances in extreme mass ratio inspirals. Using a near-identity averaging transformation, we reduce the equations of motion for a particle moving in Kerr spacetime with self-force corrections in the neighbourhood of a resonant geodesic to a one dimensional equation for a particle moving in an effective potential. From this effective equation we obtain the necessary and sufficient conditions that the self-force needs to satisfy to allow inspiralling orbits to be captured in sustained resonance. Along the way we also obtain the full non-linear expression for the jump in the adiabatic constants of motion incurred as an inspiral transiently evolves through a strong resonance to first-order in the mass ratio. Finally, we find that if the resonance is strong enough to allow capture in sustained resonance, only a small fraction (order of the square root of mass-ratio) of all inspirals will indeed be captured. This makes observation of sustained resonances in EMRIs -- if they exist -- very unlikely for space based observatories like eLisa.

ON THE MASS RADIATED BY COALESCING BLACK HOLE BINARIES

We derive an analytic phenomenological expression that predicts the final mass of the black-hole remnant resulting from the merger of a generic binary system of black holes on quasi-circular orbits. Besides recovering the correct test-particle limit for extreme mass-ratio binaries, our formula reproduces well the results of all the numerical-relativity simulations published so far, both when applied at separations of a few gravitational radii, and when applied at separations of tens of thousands of gravitational radii. These validations make our formula a useful tool in a variety of contexts ranging from gravitational-wave physics to cosmology. As representative examples, we first illustrate how it can be used to decrease the phase error of the effective-one-body waveforms during the ringdown phase. Second, we show that, when combined with the recently computed self-force correction to the binding energy of nonspinning black-hole binaries, it provides an estimate of the energy emitted during the merger and ringdown. Finally, we use it to calculate the energy radiated in gravitational waves by massive black-hole binaries as a function of redshift, using different models for the seeds of the black-hole population.

Gravitational Self-Force Correction to the Binding Energy of Compact Binary Systems

Using the first law of binary black-hole mechanics, we compute the binding energy E and total angular momentum J of two nonspinning compact objects moving on circular orbits with frequency Ω, at leading order beyond the test-particle approximation. By minimizing E(Ω) we recover the exact frequency shift of the Schwarzschild innermost stable circular orbit induced by the conservative piece of the gravitational self-force. Comparing our results for the coordinate-invariant relation E(J) to those recently obtained from numerical simulations of comparable-mass nonspinning black-hole binaries, we find a remarkably good agreement, even in the strong-field regime. Our findings confirm that the domain of validity of perturbative calculations may extend well beyond the extreme mass-ratio limit.

Importance of including small body spin effects in the modelling of intermediate mass-ratio inspirals. II. Accurate parameter extraction of strong sources using higher-order spin effects

We improve the numerical kludge waveform model introduced in Huerta and Gair (2011) [E. A. Huerta and J. R. Gair, Phys. Rev. D 84, 064023 (2011).] in two ways. We extend the equations of motion for spinning black hole binaries derived by Saijo et al. [M. Saijo, K. Maeda, M. Shibata, and Y. Mino, Phys. Rev. D 58, 064005 (1998).] using spin-orbit and spin-spin couplings taken from perturbative and post-Newtonian (PN) calculations at the highest order available. We also include first-order conservative self-force corrections for spin-orbit and spin-spin couplings, which are derived by comparison to PN results. We generate the inspiral evolution using fluxes that include the most recent calculations of small body spin corrections, spin-spin, and spin-orbit couplings and higher-order fits to solutions of the Teukolsky equation. Using a simplified version of this model in [E. A. Huerta and J. R. Gair, Phys. Rev. D 84, 064023 (2011).], we found that small body spin effects could be measured through gravitational-wave observations from intermediate-mass-ratio inspirals (IMRIs) with mass ratio $\ensuremath{\eta}\ensuremath{\gtrsim}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$, when both binary components are rapidly rotating. In this paper, we present results of Monte Carlo simulations of parameter-estimation errors to study in detail how the spin of the small/big body affects parameter measurement using a variety of mass and spin combinations for typical IMRI sources. We have found that for IMRI events involving a moderately rotating intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH) of mass ${10}^{4}{M}_{\ensuremath{\bigodot}}$ and a rapidly rotating central supermassive black hole (SMBH) of mass ${10}^{6}{M}_{\ensuremath{\bigodot}}$, gravitational wave observations made with LISA at a signal-to-noise ratio of 1000 should be able to determine the inspiralling IMBH mass, the central SMBH mass, the SMBH spin magnitude, and the IMBH spin magnitude to within fractional errors of $\ensuremath{\sim}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$, ${10}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$, ${10}^{\ensuremath{-}4}$, and ${10}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$, respectively. LISA should also be able to determine the location of the source in the sky and the SMBH spin orientation to within $\ensuremath{\sim}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}4}$ steradians. Furthermore, we show that by including conservative corrections up to 2.5PN order, systematic errors no longer dominate over statistical errors. This shows that search templates that include small body spin effects in the equations of motion up to 2.5PN order should allow us to perform accurate parameter extraction for IMRIs with typical signal-to-noise ratio $\ensuremath{\sim}1000$.

A nonlinear scalar model of extreme mass ratio inspirals in effective field theory: II. Scalar perturbations and a master source

The motion of a small compact object (SCO) in a background spacetime is investigated further in the context of a class of model nonlinear scalar field theories that have a perturbative structure analogous to the general relativistic description of extreme mass ratio inspirals. We derive regular expressions for the scalar perturbations generated by the motion of the compact object that are valid through third order in ε the size of the SCO to the background curvature length scale. Our results for the field perturbations are compared to those calculated through second order in ε by Rosenthal (2005 Class. Quantum Grav. 22 S859) and found to agree. However, our procedure for regularizing the scalar perturbations is considerably simpler. Following the Detweiler–Whiting scheme, we use our results for the regular expressions for the field and derive the regular self-force corrections through third order. We find agreement with our previous derivation based on a variational principle of an effective action for the worldline associated with the SCO thereby demonstrating the internal consistency of our formalism. This also explicitly demonstrates that the Detweiler–Whiting decomposition of Green’s functions is a valid and practical method of self-force computation at higher orders in perturbation theory and more generally, at all orders in perturbation theory, as we show in an appendix. Finally, we identify a central quantity, which we call a master source, from which all other physically relevant quantities are derivable. Specifically, knowing the master source through some order in ε allows one to construct the waveform measured by an observer, the regular part of the field and its derivative on the worldline, the regular part of the self-force and various orbital quantities such as shifts of the innermost stable circular orbit, etc when restricting to conservative dynamics. The existence of a master source together with the regularization methods implemented in this series should be indispensable for derivations of higher order gravitational self-force corrections in the future.

Importance of including small body spin effects in the modelling of extreme and intermediate mass-ratio inspirals

We explore the ability of future low-frequency gravitational wave detectors to measure the spin of stellar mass and intermediate mass black holes that inspiral onto super-massive Kerr black holes (SMBHs). We develop a kludge waveform model based on the equations of motion derived by Saijo et al. [Phys Rev D 58, 064005, 1998] for spinning BH binaries, augmented with spin-orbit and spin-spin couplings taken from perturbative and post-Newtonian (PN) calculations, and the associated conservative self-force corrections, derived by comparison to PN results. We model the inspiral phase using accurate fluxes which include perturbative corrections for the spin of the inspiralling body, spin-spin couplings and higher-order fits to solutions of the Teukolsky equation. We present results of Monte Carlo simulations of parameter estimation errors and of the model errors that arise when we omit conservative corrections from the waveform template. For a source 5000+10^6 solar mass observed with an SNR of 1000, LISA will be able to determine the two masses to within a fractional error of ~0.001, measure the SMBH spin magnitude, q, and the spin magnitude of the inspiralling BH to 0.0001, 10%, respectively, and determine the location of the source in the sky and the SMBH spin orientation to within 0.0001 steradians. For a 10+10^6 solar mass system observed with SNR of 30, LISA will not be able to determine the spin magnitude of the inspiralling BH, although the measurement of the other waveform parameters is not significantly degraded by the presence of spin. The model errors which arise from ignoring conservative corrections become significant for mass-ratios above 0.0001, but including these corrections up to 2PN order may be sufficient to reduce these systematic errors to an acceptable level.

Self-force on a scalar charge in Kerr spacetime: Eccentric equatorial orbits

We present a numerical code for calculating the self force on a scalar charge moving in a bound (eccentric) geodesic in the equatorial plane of a Kerr black hole. We work in the frequency domain and make use of the method of extended homogeneous solutions [Phys.\ Rev.\ D {\bf 78}, 084021 (2008)], in conjunction with mode-sum regularization. Our work is part of a program to develop a computational architecture for fast and efficient self-force calculations, alternative to time-domain methods. We find that our frequency-domain method outperforms existing time-domain schemes for small eccentricities, and, remarkably, remains competitive up to eccentricities as high as $\sim 0.7$. As an application of our code we (i) compute the conservative scalar-field self-force correction to the innermost stable circular equatorial orbit, as a function of the Kerr spin parameter; and (ii) calculate the variation in the rest mass of the scalar particle along the orbit, caused by the component of the self force tangent to the four-velocity.

Conservative self-force correction to the innermost stable circular orbit: Comparison with multiple post-Newtonian-based methods

[abridged] Barack & Sago have recently computed the shift of the innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO) due to the conservative self-force that arises from the finite-mass of an orbiting test-particle. This is one of the first concrete results of the self-force program, and provides an exact point of comparison with approximate post-Newtonian (PN) computations of the ISCO. Here this exact ISCO shift is compared with nearly all known PN-based methods. These include both "nonresummed" and "resummed" approaches (the latter reproduce the test-particle limit by construction). The best agreement with the exact result is found from effective-one-body (EOB) calculations that are fit to numerical relativity simulations. However, if one considers uncalibrated methods based only on the currently known 3PN-order conservative dynamics, the best agreement is found from the gauge-invariant ISCO condition of Blanchet and Iyer (2003). This method reproduces the exact test-particle limit without any resummation. A comparison of PN methods with the equal-mass ISCO is also performed. The results of this study suggest that the EOB approach---while exactly incorporating the conservative test-particle dynamics---does not (in the absence of calibration) incorporate conservative self-force effects more accurately than standard PN methods. I also consider how the conservative self-force ISCO shift, combined with numerical relativity computations of the ISCO, can be used to constrain our knowledge of (1) the EOB effective metric, (2) phenomenological inspiral-merger-ringdown templates, and (3) 4PN and 5PN order terms in the PN orbital energy. These constraints could help in constructing better gravitational-wave templates. Lastly, I suggest a new method to calibrate unknown PN-terms in inspiral templates using numerical-relativity calculations.

Influence of conservative corrections on parameter estimation for extreme-mass-ratio inspirals

We present an improved numerical kludge waveform model for circular, equatorial extreme-mass-ratio inspirals (EMRIs). The model is based on true Kerr geodesics, augmented by radiative self-force corrections derived from perturbative calculations, and in this paper for the first time we include conservative self-force corrections that we derive by comparison to post-Newtonian results. We present results of a Monte Carlo simulation of parameter estimation errors computed using the Fisher matrix and also assess the theoretical errors that would arise from omitting the conservative correction terms we include here. We present results for three different types of system, namely, the inspirals of black holes, neutron stars, or white dwarfs into a supermassive black hole (SMBH). The analysis shows that for a typical source (a 10M{sub {center_dot}} compact object captured by a 10{sup 6}M{sub {center_dot}} SMBH at a signal to noise ratio of 30) we expect to determine the two masses to within a fractional error of {approx}10{sup -4}, measure the spin parameter q to {approx}10{sup -4.5}, and determine the location of the source on the sky and the spin orientation to within 10{sup -3} steradians. We show that, for this kludge model, omitting the conservative corrections leads to a small error overmore » much of the parameter space, i.e., the ratio R of the theoretical model error to the Fisher matrix error is R<1 for all ten parameters in the model. For the few systems with larger errors typically R<3 and hence the conservative corrections can be marginally ignored. In addition, we use our model and first-order self-force results for Schwarzschild black holes to estimate the error that arises from omitting the second-order radiative piece of the self-force. This indicates that it may not be necessary to go beyond first order to recover accurate parameter estimates.« less

Self-force on extreme mass ratio inspirals via curved spacetime effective field theory

In this series we construct an effective field theory (EFT) in curved spacetime to study gravitational radiation and backreaction effects. We begin in this paper with a derivation of the self-force on a compact object moving in the background spacetime of a supermassive black hole. The EFT approach utilizes the disparity between two length scales, which in this problem are the size of the compact object ${r}_{m}$ and the radius of curvature of the background spacetime $\mathcal{R}$ such that $\ensuremath{\epsilon}\ensuremath{\equiv}{r}_{m}/\mathcal{R}\ensuremath{\ll}1$, to treat the orbital dynamics of the compact object, described as an effective point particle, separately from its tidal deformations. The equation of motion of an effective relativistic point particle coupled to the gravitational waves generated by its motion in a curved background spacetime can be derived without making a slow motion or weak field approximation, as was assumed in earlier EFT treatment of post-Newtonian binaries. Ultraviolet divergences are regularized using Hadamard's partie finie to isolate the nonlocal finite part from the quasilocal divergent part. The latter is constructed from a momentum space representation for the graviton retarded propagator and is evaluated using dimensional regularization in which only logarithmic divergences are relevant for renormalizing the parameters of the theory. As a first important application of this framework we explicitly derive the first-order self-force given by Mino, Sasaki, Tanaka, Quinn, and Wald. Going beyond the point particle approximation, to account for the finite size of the object, we demonstrate that for extreme mass ratio inspirals the motion of a compact object is affected by tidally induced moments at $O({\ensuremath{\epsilon}}^{4})$, in the form of an effacement principle. The relatively large radius-to-mass ratio of a white dwarf star allows for these effects to be enhanced until the white dwarf becomes tidally disrupted, a potentially $O({\ensuremath{\epsilon}}^{2})$ process, or plunges into the supermassive black hole. This work provides a new foundation for further exploration of higher order self-force corrections, gravitational radiation, and spinning compact objects.