Transition from inspiral to plunge in binary black hole coalescences

2000/01/31 by Alessandra Buonanno, Thibault Damour · 851 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Adiabatic process #Astronomy #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Astrophysics #Binary black hole #Binary number #Black Holes and Theoretical Physics #Black hole (networking) #Classical mechanics #Coalescence (physics) #Computer science #Gravitation #Gravitational wave #Numerical relativity #Orbit (dynamics) #Physics #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #Quantum mechanics #Theory of relativity #gr-qc

paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevd.62.064015

published in Physical review. D. Particles, fields, gravitation, and cosmology/Physical review. D. Particles and fields 62(6) (American Physical Society) · 52 pages, 21 figures, ReVTex, epsfig; few misprints corrected

arxiv created 2000/05/31 · openalex publication_date 2000/08/10 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/08

Abstract

Combining recent techniques giving nonperturbative resummed estimates of the damping and conservative parts of the two-body dynamics, we describe the transition between the adiabatic phase and the plunge, in coalescing binary black holes with comparable masses moving on quasicircular orbits. We give initial dynamical data for numerical relativity investigations, with a fraction of an orbit left, and provide, for data analysis purposes, an estimate of the gravitational waveform emitted throughout the inspiral, plunge and coalescence phases.

Citations

• The quasi-normal modes of the Schwarzschild black hole
• Gravitational radiation reaction and balance equations to post-Newtonian order
• Dynamical invariants for general relativistic two-body systems at the third post-Newtonian approximation
• Effective one-body approach to general relativistic two-body dynamics

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• Parametrized spin-precessing inspiral-merger-ringdown waveform model for tests of general relativity
• Phenomenology of amplitude-corrected post-Newtonian gravitational waveforms for compact binary inspiral: I. Signal-to-noise ratios