Intermediate Mass Ratio Black Hole Binaries: Numerical Relativity meets Perturbation Theory

TL;DR

This paper introduces a hybrid approach combining numerical relativity and perturbation theory to generate gravitational waveforms for intermediate-mass-ratio black hole binaries, enhancing efficiency and accuracy for data analysis.

Contribution

The authors develop a novel method using nonlinear trajectories and perturbative evolutions to produce waveforms for intermediate mass ratios, bridging numerical and analytical techniques.

Findings

Successfully computed waveforms for q=1/10

Demonstrated potential for efficient waveform generation

Applicable to LIGO/VIRGO data analysis

Abstract

We study black-hole binaries in the intermediate-mass-ratio regime 0.01 < q < 0.1 with a new technique that makes use of nonlinear numerical trajectories and efficient perturbative evolutions to compute waveforms at large radii for the leading and nonleading modes. As a proof-of-concept, we compute waveforms for q=1/10. We discuss applications of these techniques for LIGO/VIRGO data analysis and the possibility that our technique can be extended to produce accurate waveform templates from a modest number of fully-nonlinear numerical simulations.