Measuring eccentricity in binary black-hole initial data

Grigsby, Jason D.; Cook, G.G.

doi:10.1103/physrevd.77.044011

Cited by 7 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 40 publications

(52 reference statements)

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“…In Ref. [65] these same PN equations have been used to study truly eccentric black hole binary initial data, and to point out some interesting features of the resulting effective potentials.…”

Section: B Mora-will Parametrizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Eccentric binary black-hole mergers: The transition from inspiral to plunge in general relativity

et al. 2008

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We study the transition from inspiral to plunge in general relativity by computing gravitational waveforms of non-spinning, equal-mass black-hole binaries. We consider three sequences of simulations, starting with a quasi-circular inspiral completing 1.5, 2.3 and 9.6 orbits, respectively, prior to coalescence of the holes. For each sequence, the binding energy of the system is kept constant and the orbital angular momentum is progressively reduced, producing orbits of increasing eccentricity and eventually a head-on collision. We analyze in detail the radiation of energy and angular momentum in gravitational waves, the contribution of different multipolar components and the final spin of the remnant, comparing numerical predictions with the post-Newtonian approximation and with extrapolations of point-particle results. We find that the motion transitions from inspiral to plunge when the orbital angular momentum L = Lcrit ≃ 0.8M 2 . For L < Lcrit the radiated energy drops very rapidly. Orbits with L ≃ Lcrit produce our largest dimensionless Kerr parameter for the remnant, j = J/M 2 ≃ 0.724 ± 0.13 (to be compared with the Kerr parameter j ≃ 0.69 resulting from quasi-circular inspirals). This value is in good agreement with the value of 0.72 reported in [1]. These conclusions are quite insensitive to the initial separation of the holes, and they can be understood by extrapolating point particle results. Generalizing a model recently proposed by Buonanno, Kidder and Lehner [2] to eccentric binaries, we conjecture that (1) j ≃ 0.724 is close to the maximal Kerr parameter that can be obtained by any merger of non-spinning holes, and (2) no binary merger (even if the binary members are extremal Kerr black holes with spins aligned to the orbital angular momentum, and the inspiral is highly eccentric) can violate the cosmic censorship conjecture.

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Section: B Mora-will Parametrizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…First, we determine a quasi-circular configuration using the 3PN accurate relation (65) of Ref. [16], which provides the initial linear momentum P/M for given black hole masses M 1 and M 2 and separation D/M .…”

Section: A Sequence Of Initial Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Eccentric binary black-hole mergers: The transition from inspiral to plunge in general relativity

et al. 2008

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“…With the exception of a few papers (e.g. [44,45,46,47,48]), simulations of BBH mergers thus far have focused on circular orbits. Nevertheless, in Appendix E, we will explain the extension of our formalism to non-circular (eccentric) orbits.…”

Section: A Preliminariesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spin expansion for binary black hole mergers: New predictions and future directions

Boyle

Kesden

2008

Phys. Rev. D

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In a recent paper [1], we introduced a spin expansion that provides a simple yet powerful way to understand aspects of binary black hole (BBH) merger. This approach relies on the symmetry properties of initial and final quantities like the black hole mass m, kick velocity k, and spin vector s, rather than a detailed understanding of the merger dynamics. In this paper, we expand on this proposal, examine how well its predictions agree with current simulations, and discuss several future directions that would make it an even more valuable tool. The spin expansion yields many new predictions, including several exact results that may be useful for testing numerical codes. Some of these predictions have already been confirmed, while others await future simulations. We explain how a relatively small number of simulations -10 equal-mass simulations, and 16 unequal-mass simulations -may be used to calibrate all of the coefficients in the spin expansion up to second order at the minimum computational cost. For a more general set of simulations of given covariance, we derive the minimum-variance unbiased estimators for the spin expansion coefficients. We discuss how this calibration would be interesting and fruitful for general relativity and astrophysics. Finally, we sketch the extension to eccentric orbits.

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“…This makes it important to specify the validity regimes of these definitions. One can also define eccentricity based only on black-hole initial data, without the need to perform evolutions [47].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring orbital eccentricity and periastron advance in quasicircular black hole simulations

et al. 2010

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We compare different methods of computing the orbital eccentricity of quasicircular binary black-hole systems using the orbital variables and gravitational-wave phase and frequency. For eccentricities of about a per cent, most methods work satisfactorily. For small eccentricity, however, the gravitational-wave phase allows a particularly clean and reliable measurement of the eccentricity. Furthermore, we measure the decay of the orbital eccentricity during the inspiral and find reasonable agreement with post-Newtonian results. Finally, we measure the periastron advance of nonspinning binary black holes, and we compare them to post-Newtonian approximations. With the low uncertainty in the measurement of the periastron advance, we positively detect deviations between fully numerical simulations and post-Newtonian calculations.

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Measuring eccentricity in binary black-hole initial data

Cited by 7 publications

References 40 publications

Eccentric binary black-hole mergers: The transition from inspiral to plunge in general relativity

Eccentric binary black-hole mergers: The transition from inspiral to plunge in general relativity

Spin expansion for binary black hole mergers: New predictions and future directions

Measuring orbital eccentricity and periastron advance in quasicircular black hole simulations

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