Binary black hole merger waveforms in the extreme mass ratio limit

TL;DR

This paper compares numerical and analytical waveforms of binary black hole mergers in the extreme mass ratio limit, aiming to improve the understanding and matching of different modeling approaches.

Contribution

It provides a comparison between numerical and analytical methods for modeling black hole mergers in the extreme mass ratio limit, enhancing the integration of these approaches.

Findings

Numerical and analytical waveforms show good agreement in the transition regime.

The study demonstrates the effectiveness of the Effective One Body method.

Results contribute to improved waveform modeling for gravitational wave detection.

Abstract

We discuss the transition from quasi-circular inspiral to plunge of a system of two nonrotating black holes of masses $m_1$ and $m_2$ in the extreme mass ratio limit $m_1m_2\ll (m_1+m_2)^2$. In this limit, we compare the merger waveforms obtained by two different methods: a {\it numerical} (Regge-Wheeler-Zerilli) one, and an {\it analytical} (Effective One Body) one. This is viewed as a contribution to the matching between analytical and numerical methods.