Close-limit analysis for head-on collision of two black holes in higher dimensions: Brill-Lindquist initial data

TL;DR

This paper investigates gravitational waves from head-on black hole collisions in higher dimensions using perturbation theory, providing new insights into waveforms, energy emission, and quasinormal modes relevant for TeV-scale gravity scenarios.

Contribution

It introduces a numerical approach to analyze gravitational radiation in higher dimensions and accurately computes quasinormal mode frequencies for higher-dimensional Schwarzschild black holes.

Findings

Waveforms and energy radiated in higher-dimensional black hole collisions are characterized.

Fundamental quasinormal mode frequencies for higher-dimensional black holes are precisely determined.

Abstract

Motivated by the TeV-scale gravity scenarios, we study gravitational radiation in the head-on collision of two black holes in higher dimensional spacetimes using a close-limit approximation. We prepare time-symmetric initial data sets for two black holes (the so-called Brill-Lindquist initial data) and numerically evolve the spacetime in terms of a gauge invariant formulation for the perturbation around the higher-dimensional Schwarzschild black holes. The waveform and radiated energy of gravitational waves emitted in the head-on collision are clarified. Also, the complex frequencies of fundamental quasinormal modes of higher-dimensional Schwarzschild black holes, which have not been accurately derived so far, are determined.