The radial infall of a highly relativistic point particle into a Kerr black hole along the symmetry axis

TL;DR

This paper models the gravitational wave emission from a highly relativistic particle falling into a Kerr black hole along the axis of symmetry, providing insights into high-energy black hole interactions.

Contribution

It applies the Sasaki-Nakamura formalism to compute waveforms and energy spectra for ultra-relativistic infall into a Kerr black hole, a novel analysis of such extreme events.

Findings

Waveforms and energy spectra computed for the infall process.

Total energy radiated quantified during the infall.

Potential implications for black hole collision scenarios at relativistic speeds.

Abstract

In this Letter we consider the radial infall along the symmetry axis of an ultra-relativistic point particle into a rotating Kerr black hole. We use the Sasaki-Nakamura formalism to compute the waveform, energy spectra and total energy radiated during this process. We discuss possible connections between these results and the black hole-black hole collision at the speed of light process.