Gravitational-Wave Recoil from the Ringdown Phase of Coalescing Black Hole Binaries

TL;DR

This paper investigates the gravitational recoil (kick) of black holes post-merger, demonstrating that ringdown radiation significantly contributes to the net kick velocity, aligning well with numerical relativity results.

Contribution

It combines post-Newtonian and close-limit approximation methods to quantify the ringdown phase's anti-kick effect on black hole recoil velocities.

Findings

Ringdown radiation produces a significant anti-kick.

Net recoil velocities agree with numerical relativity within 10-15%.

Maximum recoil velocity is approximately 180 km/s at a mass ratio of 0.38.

Abstract

The gravitational recoil or "kick" of a black hole formed from the merger of two orbiting black holes, and caused by the anisotropic emission of gravitational radiation, is an astrophysically important phenomenon. We combine (i) an earlier calculation, using post-Newtonian theory, of the kick velocity accumulated up to the merger of two non-spinning black holes, (ii) a "close-limit approximation" calculation of the radiation emitted during the ringdown phase, and based on a solution of the Regge-Wheeler and Zerilli equations using initial data accurate to second post-Newtonian order. We prove that ringdown radiation produces a significant "anti-kick". Adding the contributions due to inspiral, merger and ringdown phases, our results for the net kick velocity agree with those from numerical relativity to 10-15 percent over a wide range of mass ratios, with a maximum velocity of 180 km/s at a mass ratio of 0.38.