Colliding black holes with linearized gravity

TL;DR

This paper reviews the application of linearized gravity to black hole collisions, highlighting its usefulness for simplifying complex simulations and validating numerical relativity results, especially in head-on collision scenarios.

Contribution

It demonstrates the effectiveness of linearized theory in modeling close black hole collisions and explores its potential in more complex, realistic situations.

Findings

Linearized approximation works well for head-on collisions

Useful for code validation in numerical relativity

Ongoing research on the approximation's validity domain

Abstract

We give a brief summary of results and ongoing research in the application of linearized theory to the study of black hole collisions in the limit in which the holes start close to each other. This approximation can be a valuable tool for comparison and code-checking of full numerical relativity computations. The approximation works quite well for the head-on case and this is motivation to pursue its use in other more interesting contexts. We summarize current efforts towards establishing the domain of validity of the approximation and its use in generation and evolution of initial data for more interesting physical cases.