Towards the solution of the relativistic gravitational radiation reaction problem for binary black holes

TL;DR

This paper applies a novel regularization method to analyze gravitational radiation reaction in binary black holes, revealing a repulsive reaction force in extreme mass ratio head-on collisions and discussing extensions to more general cases.

Contribution

It introduces the generalized Riemann zeta-function regularization method to gravitational radiation reaction problems, improving the accuracy of waveform predictions for binary black hole systems.

Findings

Reaction force is repulsive in head-on collisions

Method can be extended to generic orbits and spinning black holes

Enhanced trajectory correction improves waveform accuracy

Abstract

Here we present the results of applying the generalized Riemann zeta-function regularization method to the gravitational radiation reaction problem. We analyze in detail the headon collision of two nonspinning black holes with extreme mass ratio. The resulting reaction force on the smaller hole is repulsive. We discuss the possible extensions of these method to generic orbits and spinning black holes. The determination of corrected trajectories allows to add second perturbative corrections with the consequent increase in the accuracy of computed waveforms.