How to Estimate Energy Lost to Gravitational Waves (revised)

TL;DR

This paper derives a local lower bound on the Bondi flux of gravitational waves, enabling better interpretation of gravity-wave measurements despite the non-local nature of the energy--momentum formula.

Contribution

It introduces a method to estimate gravitational wave energy flux locally from the radiation field, clarifying the use of Bondi's formula in measurements.

Findings

Established a local lower bound on Bondi flux from the radiation field.

Provided a way to interpret gravitational wave data using local information.

Clarified the applicability of Bondi's formula in observational contexts.

Abstract

The energy--momentum radiated in gravitational waves by an isolated source is given by a formula of Bondi. This formula is highly non--local: the energy--momentum is not given as the integral of a well--defined local density. It has therefore been unclear whether the Bondi formula can be used to get information from gravity--wave measurements. In this note, we obtain, from local knowledge of the radiation field, a lower bound on the Bondi flux.