2013/12/12 by Thibault Damour, Damour, Thibault
Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Algorithm #Astrophysics #Binary black hole #Binary number #Classical mechanics #Computation #Computer science #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #FOS: Physical sciences #Formalism (music) #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc) #General relativity #Gravitation #Gravitational wave #Mathematics #Neutron star #Numerical relativity #Physics #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #Theoretical physics #Theory of relativity #gr-qc
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1312.3505
43 pages, 4 figures, to appear in the Brumberg Festschrift, edited by S. M. Kopeikein, and to be published by de Gruyter, Berlin, 2014. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1212.3169
arxiv created 2013/12/12 · openalex publication_date 2013/12/12 · arxiv updated 2013/12/13 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The two-body problem in General Relativity has been the subject of many analytical investigations. After reviewing some of the methods used to tackle this problem (and, more generally, the N-body problem), we focus on a new, recently introduced approach to the motion and radiation of (comparable mass) binary systems: the Effective One Body (EOB) formalism. We review the basic elements of this formalism, and discuss some of its recent developments. Several recent comparisons between EOB predictions and Numerical Relativity (NR) simulations have shown the aptitude of the EOB formalism to provide accurate descriptions of the dynamics and radiation of various binary systems (comprising black holes or neutron stars) in regimes that are inaccessible to other analytical approaches (such as the last orbits and the merger of comparable mass black holes). In synergy with NR simulations, post-Newtonian (PN) theory and Gravitational Self-Force (GSF) computations, the EOB formalism is likely to provide an efficient way of computing the very many accurate template waveforms that are needed for Gravitational Wave (GW) data analysis purposes.