First laws of black hole mechanics, or thermodynamics, come in a variety of different forms. In this paper, from a purely post-Newtonian (PN) analysis, we obtain a first law for binary systems of point masses moving along an exactly circular orbit. Our calculation is valid through 3PN order and includes, in addition, the contributions of logarithmic terms at 4PN and 5PN orders. This first law of binary point-particle mechanics is then derived from first principles in general relativity, and analogies are drawn with the single and binary black hole cases. Some consequences of the first law are explored for PN spacetimes. As one such consequence, a simple relation between the PN binding energy of the binary system and Detweiler's redshift observable is established. Through it, we are able to determine with high precision the numerical values of some previously unknown high order PN coefficients in the circular-orbit binding energy. Finally, we propose new gauge invariant notions for the energy and angular momentum of a particle in a binary system.
We use surface adapted ellipsoidal coordinates to obtain a first order post-Newtonian (PN) approximation to Dedekind ellipsoids with the intention of proceeding to higher orders.
In the continuation of a preceding work, we derive a new expression for the metric in the near zone of an isolated matter system in post-Newtonian approximations of general relativity. The post-Newtonian metric, a solution of the field equations in harmonic coordinates, is formally valid up to any order, and is cast in the form of a particular solution of the wave equation, plus a specific homogeneous solution which ensures the asymptotic matching to the multipolar expansion of the gravitational field in the exterior of the system. The new form provides some insights on the structure of the po…
We present the first numerical-relativity simulation of a compact-object binary whose gravitational waveform is long enough to cover the entire frequency band of advanced gravitational-wave detectors, such as LIGO, Virgo and KAGRA, for mass ratio 7 and total mass as low as $45.5\,M_\odot$. We find that effective-one-body models, either uncalibrated or calibrated against substantially shorter numerical-relativity waveforms at smaller mass ratios, reproduce our new waveform remarkably well, with a negligible loss in detection rate due to modeling error. In contrast, post-Newtonian inspiral wavef…
We compare the phase evolution of equal-mass nonspinning black-hole binaries from numerical relativity (NR) simulations with post-Newtonian (PN) results obtained from three PN approximants: the TaylorT1 and T4 approximants, for which NR-PN comparisons have already been performed in the literature, and the recently proposed approximant TaylorEt. The accumulated phase disagreement between NR and PN results over the frequency range $Mω= 0.0455$ to $Mω= 0.1$ is greater for TaylorEt than either T1 or T4, but has the attractive property of decreasing monotonically as the PN order is increased.
We present a new phenomenological gravitational waveform model for the inspiral and coalescence of non-precessing spinning black hole binaries. Our approach is based on a frequency domain matching of post-Newtonian inspiral waveforms with numerical relativity based binary black hole coalescence waveforms. We quantify the various possible sources of systematic errors that arise in matching post-Newtonian and numerical relativity waveforms, and we use a matching criteria based on minimizing these errors; we find that the dominant source of errors are those in the post-Newtonian waveforms near th…
We analytically calculate the equilibrium sequence of the corotating binary stars of incompressible fluid in the first post-Newtonian(PN) approximation of general relativity. By calculating the total energy and total angular momentum of the system as a function of the orbital separation, we investigate the innermost stable circular orbit for corotating binary(we call it ISCCO). It is found that by the first PN effect, the orbital separation of the binary at the ISCCO becomes small with increase of the compactness of each star, and as a result, the orbital angular velocity at the ISCCO increase…
Construction of astrophysically realistic initial data remains a central problem when modelling the merger and eventual coalescence of binary black holes in numerical relativity. The objective of this paper is to provide astrophysically realistic freely specifiable initial data for binary black hole systems in numerical relativity, which are in agreement with post-Newtonian results. Following the approach taken by Blanchet, we propose a particular solution to the time-asymmetric constraint equations, which represent a system of two moving black holes, in the form of the standard conformal deco…
With the goal of taking a step toward the construction of astrophysically realistic initial data for numerical simulations of black holes, we for the first time derive a family of fully general relativistic initial data based on post-2-Newtonian expansions of the 3-metric and extrinsic curvature without spin. It is expected that such initial data provide a direct connection with the early inspiral phase of the binary system. We discuss a straightforward numerical implementation, which is based on a generalized puncture method. Furthermore, we suggest a method to address some of the inherent am…
The gravitational-wave energy flux produced during the head-on infall and collision of two compact objects is calculated using two approaches: (i) a post-Newtonian method, carried to second post-Newtonian order beyond the quadrupole formula, valid for systems of arbitrary masses; and (ii) a black-hole perturbation method, valid for a test-body falling radially toward a black hole. In the test-body case, the methods are compared. The post-Newtonian method is shown to converge to the ``exact'' perturbation result more slowly than expected {\it a priori\/}. A surprisingly good approximation to th…
We analytically study gravitational radiation from corotating binary neutron stars composed of incompressible, homogeneous fluid in circular orbits. The energy and the angular momentum loss rates are derived up to the first post-Newtonian (1PN) order beyond the quadrupole approximation including effects of the finite size of each star of binary. It is found that the leading term of finite size effects in the 1PN order is only $O(GM_{\ast}/c^2 a_{\ast})$ smaller than that in the Newtonian order, where $GM_{\ast}/c^2 a_{\ast}$ means the ratio of the gravitational radius to the mean radius of eac…
An approximation to General Relativity is presented that agrees with the Einstein field equations up to and including the fourth post-Newtonian (PN) order. This approximation is formulated in a fully constrained scheme: all involved equations are explicitly elliptic except the wave equation that describes the two independent degrees of freedom of the gravitational field. The formalism covers naturally the conformal-flat-condition (CFC) approach by Isenberg, Wilson, and Mathews and the improved second PN-order exact approach CFC+. For stationary configurations, like Kerr black holes, agreement …
Recently it has been shown that despite previous claims the cosmological constant affects light bending. In the present article we study light bending and the advance of Mercury's perihelion in the context of the Newtonian limit of Schwarzschild-de Sitter spacetime employing the special relativistic equivalence of mass and energy. In both cases, up to a constant factor, we find the same results as in the full general relativistic treatment of the same phenomena. These approximate and intuitive arguments demonstrate clearly what effects should have been expected from the presence of $Λ$ in the …
We consider the two-body problem in post-Newtonian approximations of general relativity. We report the recent results concerning the equations of motion, and the associated Lagrangian formulation, of compact binary systems, at the third post-Newtonian order (1/c^6 beyond the Newtonian acceleration). These equations are necessary when constructing the theoretical templates for searching and analyzing the gravitational-wave signals from inspiralling compact binaries in VIRGO-type experiments.
The dynamics of extended bodies is a fundamental problem in any gravitational theory. In the case of General Relativity, this problem is under study since the theory was published. Several methods have been developed and different approaches are avalaible in the literature to interpret the relativistic contributions in the motion under gravity influence. The main goal in this thesis is to study a general method to face the equation of motion for extended bodies in General Relativity. We started with a proposal in the Newtonian theory, which consists in a multipolar expansion for the gravitatio…
An exact solution of Einstein's field equations for a static spherically symmetric medium with a radially boost invariant energy-momentum tensor is presented. In the limit of an equation of state corresponding to a distribution of radially directed strings there is a $1/r$ correction to Newton's force law. At large distances and small accelerations this law coincides with the phenomenological force law invented by Milgrom in order to explain the flat rotation curves of galaxies without introducing dark matter. The present model explaines why the critical acceleration of Milgrom is of the same …
Using the ellipsoidal model for the density configuration, we calculate the equilibrium sequence of the corotating binary stars of the polytropic equation of state in the first post-Newtonian approximation of general relativity. After we calibrate this model by comparing with previous numerical results, we perform the stability analysis by calculating the energy and the angular momentum of the system as a function of the orbital separation. We find that the orbital angular velocity at the energy and/or momentum minimum increases with the increase of the compactness of each star, and this fact …
General relativity predicts the gravitational wave signatures of coalescing binary black holes. Explicit waveform predictions for such systems, required for optimal analysis of observational data, have so far been achieved using the post-Newtonian (PN) approximation. The quality of this treatment is unclear, however, for the important late-inspiral portion. We derive late-inspiral waveforms via a complementary approach, direct numerical simulation of Einstein's equations. We compare waveform phasing from simulations of the last $\sim 14$ cycles of gravitational radiation from equal-mass, nonsp…
We derive a coordinate-independent formulation of the post-1-Newtonian approximation to general relativity. This formulation is a generalization of the Newton-Cartan geometric formulation of Newtonian gravity. It involves several fields and a connection, but no spacetime metric at the fundamental level. We show that the usual coordinate-dependent equations of post-Newtonian gravity are recovered when one specializes to asymptotically flat spacetimes and to appropriate classes of coordinates.
Gravitational waveforms which describe the inspiral, merger and ringdown of coalescing binaries are usually constructed by synthesising information from perturbative descriptions, in particular post-Newtonian theory and black-hole perturbation theory, with numerical solutions of the full Einstein equations. In this paper we discuss the "glueing" of numerical and post-Newtonian waveforms to produce hybrid waveforms which include subdominant spherical harmonics ("higher order modes"), and focus in particular on the process of consistently aligning the waveforms, which requires a comparison of bo…
Inspiralling and coalescing binary black holes are promising sources of gravitational radiation. The orbital motion and gravitational-wave emission of such system can be modelled using a variety of approximation schemes and numerical methods in general relativity: the post-Newtonian formalism, black hole perturbation theory, numerical relativity simulations, and the effective one-body model. We review recent work at the multiple interfaces of these analytical and numerical techniques, emphasizing the use of coordinate-invariant relationships to perform meaningful comparisons. Such comparisons …
As is well known, the 0 - 0 component of the Schwarzschild space can be obtained by the requirement that the geodesic of slowly moving particles match the Newtonian equation. Given this result, we show here that the remaining components can be obtained by requiring that the inside of a Newtonian ball of dust matched at a free falling radius with the external space determines that space to be Schwarzschild, if no pathologies exist. Also we are able to determine that the constant of integration that appears in the Newtonian Cosmology, coincides with the spatial curvature of the FLRW metric. Thes…
We show how Newtonian gravity with effective (actually observed) masses, obeying the mass-energy relation of special relativity, can explain all observations used to test General relativity. Dynamics of a gravitationally coupled binary system is considered in detail, and the effective masses of constituents are determined. Interpreting our results in terms of motion in a curved space-time background, we are led, using the Lagrangian formalism, to consider the exponential metric as a natural space-time metric of Newtonian gravity.
We derive the post-Newtonian limit of a general class of teleparallel gravity theories, whose action is given by a free function of three scalar quantities obtained from the torsion of the teleparallel connection. This class of theories is chosen to be sufficiently generic in order to include the $f(T)$ class of theories as well as new general relativity as subclasses. To derive its post-Newtonian limit, we first impose the Weitzenböck gauge, and then introduce a post-Newtonian approximation of the tetrad field around a Minkowski background solution. Our results show that the class of theories…
We find a choice of variables for the 3+1 formulation of general relativity which casts the evolution equations into (flux-conservative) symmetric-hyperbolic first order form for arbitrary lapse and shift, for the first time. We redefine the lapse function in terms of the determinant of the 3-metric and a free function U which embodies the lapse freedom. By rescaling the variables with appropriate factors of 1/c, the system is shown to have a smooth Newtonian limit when the redefined lapse U and the shift are fixed by means of elliptic equations to be satisfied on each time slice. We give a pr…
The advance of the pericenter of the orbit of a test body around a massive body in general relativity can be calculated in a number of ways. In one method, one studies the geodesic equation in the exact Schwarzschild geometry and finds the angle between pericenters as an integral of a certain radial function between turning points of the orbit. In another method, one describes the orbit using osculating orbit elements, and analyzes the "Lagrange planetary equations" that give the evolution of the elements under the perturbing effects of post-Newtonian (PN) corrections to the motion. After sepa…
Binary black-hole systems are expected to be important sources of gravitational waves for upcoming gravitational-wave detectors. If the spins are not colinear with each other or with the orbital angular momentum, these systems exhibit complicated precession dynamics that are imprinted on the gravitational waveform. We develop a new procedure to match the precession dynamics computed by post-Newtonian (PN) theory to those of numerical binary black-hole simulations in full general relativity. For numerical relativity NR) simulations lasting approximately two precession cycles, we find that the P…
We present numerical results on the hydrodynamic stability of coalescing binary stars in the first post Newtonian(1PN) approximation of general relativity. We pay particular attention to the hydrodynamical instability of corotating binary stars in equilibrium states assuming the stiff polytropic equation of state with the adiabatic constant $Γ=3$. In previous 1PN numerical studies on corotating binary stars in equilibrium states, it was found that along the sequence of binary stars as a function of the orbital separation, they have the energy and/or angular momentum minima where the secular in…
An exact solution of Einstein's field equations for a point mass surrounded by a static, spherically symmetric fluid of strings is presented. The solution is singular at the origin. Near the string cloud limit there is a $1/r$ correction to Newton's force law. It is noted that at large distances and small accelerations, this law coincides with the phenomenological force law invented by Milgrom in order to explain the flat rotation curves of galaxies without introducing dark matter. When interpreted in the context of a cosmological model with a string fluid, the new solution naturally explains …
Gravitational wave observations have great potential to reveal new information about the fundamental nature of gravity, but extracting that information can be difficult. One popular technique is the parametrized inspiral test of general relativity (a realization of the parametrized post-Einsteinian framework), where the gravitational waveform, as calculated in Einstein's theory as a series expansion in the orbital velocity, is parametrically deformed at a given set of orders in velocity. However, most current approaches usually only analyze the data while considering a single, specific modific…
We compare results from numerical simulations of spinning binaries in the "orbital hangup" case, where the binary completes at least nine orbits before merger, with post-Newtonian results using the approximants TaylorT1, T4 and Et. We find that, over the ten cycles before the gravitational-wave frequency reaches $Mω= 0.1$, the accumulated phase disagreement between NR and 2.5PN results is less than three radians, and is less than 2.5 radians when using 3.5PN results. The amplitude disagreement between NR and restricted PN results increases with the black holes' spin, from about 6% in the equal…
Cosmology is a field of physics in which the use of General Relativity theory is indispensable. However, a cosmology based on Newtonian gravity theory for gravity is possible in certain circumstances. The applicability of Newtonian theory can be substantially extended if it is modified in such way that pressure has a more active role as source of the gravitational field. This was done in the neo-Newtonian cosmology. The limitation on the construction of a Newtonian cosmology, and the need for a relativistic theory in cosmology are reviewed. The neo-Newtonian proposal is presented, and its cons…
The recently proposed Nieh-Yan modified teleparallel gravity is a parity-violating gravity model that modifies the general relativity equivalent teleparallel gravity by a Nieh-Yan term. This model is healthy and simple in form. In this paper, we consider the application of this model to the Solar System and investigate its slow-motion and weak-field approximation in terms of the parametrized post-Newtonian formalism. We find that all the post-Newtonian parameters of the model are the same as those of general relativity, which makes the model compatible with the Solar System experiments.
We report on a package of routines for the computer algebra system Maple which supports the explicit determination of the geometric quantities, field equations, equations of motion, and conserved quantities of General Relativity in the post-Newtonian approximation. The package structure is modular and allows for an easy modification by the user. The set of routines can be used to verify hand calculations or to generate the input for further numerical investigations.
Jürgen Ehlers developed \emph{frame theory} to better understand the relationship between general relativity and Newtonian gravity. Frame theory contains a parameter $λ$, which can be thought of as $1/c^2$, where $c$ is the speed of light. By construction, frame theory is equivalent to general relativity for $λ>0$, and reduces to Newtonian gravity for $λ=0$. Moreover, by setting $\ep=\sqrtλ$, frame theory provides a framework to study the Newtonian limit $\ep \searrow 0$ (i.e. $c\to \infty$). A number of ideas relating to frame theory that were introduced by Jürgen have subsequently found impo…
This article presents a study of the sufficient accuracy of post-Newtonian and numerical relativity waveforms for the most demanding usage case: parameter estimation of strong sources in advanced gravitational wave detectors. For black hole binaries, these detectors require accurate waveform models which can be constructed by fusing an analytical post-Newtonian inspiral waveform with a numerical relativity merger-ringdown waveform. We perform a comprehensive analysis of errors that enter such "hybrid waveforms". We find that the post-Newtonian waveform must be aligned with the numerical relati…
We review the history of the self-gravitating Fermi gas in Newtonian gravity and general relativity. We mention applications to white dwarfs, neutron stars and dark matter halos. We describe the nature of instabilities and phase transitions in the self-gravitating Fermi gas as energy (microcanonical ensemble) or temperature (canonical ensemble) is reduced. When $N<N_{\rm OV}$, where $N_{\rm OV}$ is the Oppenheimer-Volkoff critical particle number, the self-gravitating Fermi gas experiences a gravothermal catastrophe at $E_c$ stopped by quantum mechanics (Pauli's exclusion principle). The equil…
Newtonian gravity and special relativity combine to produce a gravitomagnetic precession of an orbiting gyroscope that is one fourth as large as predicted by General Relativity. The geodetic effect is the same in both cases.
The Numerical INJection Analysis (NINJA) project is a collaborative effort between members of the numerical relativity and gravitational wave data analysis communities. The purpose of NINJA is to study the sensitivity of existing gravitational-wave search and parameter-estimation algorithms using numerically generated waveforms, and to foster closer collaboration between the numerical relativity and data analysis communities. The first NINJA project used only a small number of injections of short numerical-relativity waveforms, which limited its ability to draw quantitative conclusions. The go…
We construct the gauge invariant potentials of Hermitian Gravity and derive the linearized equations of motion they obey. A comparison reveals a striking similarity to the Bardeen potentials of general relativity. We then consider the response to a point particle source, and discuss in what sense the solutions of Hermitian Gravity reduce to the Newtonian potentials. In a rather intriguing way, the Hermitian Gravity solutions exhibit a generalized reciprocity symmetry originally proposed by Born in the 1930s. Finally, we consider the trajectories of massive and massless particles under the infl…
We present a formalism to obtain equilibrium configurations of uniformly rotating fluid in the second post-Newtonian approximation of general relativity. In our formalism, we need to solve 29 Poisson equations, but their source terms decrease rapidly enough at the external region of the matter(i.e., at worst $O(r^{-4})$). Hence these Poisson equations can be solved accurately as the boundary value problem using standard numerical methods.This formalism will be useful to obtain nonaxisymmetric uniformly rotating equilibrium configurations such as synchronized binary neutron stars just before me…
We present a practical framework for ideal hyperelasticity in numerical relativity. For this purpose, we recast the formalism of Carter and Quintana as a set of Eulerian conservation laws in an arbitrary 3+1 split of spacetime. The resulting equations are presented as an extension of the standard Valencia formalism for a perfect fluid, with additional terms in the stress-energy tensor, plus a set of kinematic conservation laws that evolve a configuration gradient. We prove that the equations can be made symmetric hyperbolic by suitable constraint additions, at least in a neighbourhood of the u…
We present a method for constructing equilibrium disks with net angular momentum in general relativity. The method solves the relativistic Vlasov equation coupled to Einstein's equations for the gravitational field. We apply the method to construct disks that are relativistic versions of Newtonian Kalnajs disks. In Newtonian gravity these disks are analytic, and are stable against ring formation for certain ranges of their velocity dispersion. We investigate the existence of fully general relativistic equilibrium sequences for differing values of the velocity dispersion. These models are the f…
We review some recent works on the post-Newtonian theory of slowly-moving (post-Newtonian) sources, and its application to the problems of dynamics and gravitational radiation from compact binary systems. Our current knowledge is 3PN on the center-of-mass energy and 3.5PN on the gravitational-wave flux of inspiralling compact binaries. We compute the innermost circular orbit (ICO) of binary black-hole systems and find a very good agreement with the result of numerical relativity. We argue that the gravitational dynamics of two bodies of comparable masses in general relativity does not resemble…
We summarize a recent work done on the title's subject. First, we present the asymptotic scheme of post-Newtonian (PN) approximation for general relativity in the harmonic gauge. Then, we discuss the definition of the mass centers and the derivation of equations for their motion, following that scheme. Finally, we briefly analyze the reason why a new term has thus been found in the equations of motion.
Numerical N-body simulations of large scale structure formation in the universe are based on Newtonian gravity. However, according to our current understanding, the most correct theory of gravity is general relativity. It is therefore important to understand which degrees of freedom and which features are lost when the relativistic universe is approximated, or rather replaced, by a Newtonian one. This is the main purpose of our investigation. We first define Newtonian cosmology and we give an overview on general relativity, both in its standard and covariant formulations. We show how the two t…
We define a new paradigm --- postrelativity --- based on the hypothesis of a preferred hidden Newtonian frame in relativistic theories. It leads to a modification of general relativity with ether interpretation, without topological problems, black hole and big bang singularities. Semiclassical theory predicts Hawking radiation with evaporation before horizon formation. In quantum gravity there is no problem of time and topology. Configuration space and quasiclassical predictions are different from canonical quantization of general relativity. Uncertainty of the light cone or an atomic structur…
First post-Newtonian (1PN) hydrostatic equations for an irrotational fluid which have been recently derived are solved for an incompressible star. The 1PN configurations are expressed as a deformation of the Newtonian irrotational Riemann ellipsoid using Lagrangian displacement vectors introduced by Chandrasekhar. For the 1PN solutions, we also calculate the luminosity of gravitational waves in the 1PN approximation using the Blanchet-Damour formalism. It is found that the solutions of the 1PN equations exhibit singularities at points where the axial ratios of semi-axes are 1:0.5244:0.6579 and…
The orbital motion of inspiralling and coalescing black hole binaries can be investigated using a variety of approximation schemes and numerical methods within general relativity: post-Newtonian expansions, black hole perturbation theory, numerical relativity, and the effective-one-body formalism. We review two recent comparisons of the predictions from these various techniques. Both comparisons rely on the calculation of a coordinate invariant relation, in the case of non-spinning binary black holes on quasi-circular orbits. All methods are shown to agree very well in their common domain of v…
We calculate the explicit equations of motion for non-spinning compact objects to 2.5 post-Newtonian order, or O(v/c)^5 beyond Newtonian gravity, in a general class of scalar-tensor theories of gravity. We use the formalism of the Direct Integration of the Relaxed Einstein Equations (DIRE), adapted to scalar-tensor theory, coupled with an approach pioneered by Eardley for incorporating the internal gravity of compact, self-gravitating bodies. For the conservative part of the motion, we obtain the two-body Lagrangian and conserved energy and momentum through second post-Newtonian order. We find…
We show that the empirical signs of the fundamental {\it static} Coulomb/Newton forces are dictated by the seemingly unrelated requirement that the photons/gravitons in the respective underlying Maxwell/Einstein physics be stable. This linkage, which is imposed by special relativity, is manifested upon decomposing the corresponding fields and sources in a gauge-invariant way, and without appeal to static limits. The signs of these free field excitation energies determine those of the instantaneous forces between sources; opposite Coulomb/Newton signs are direct consequences of the Maxwell/Eins…
Gravitational waves from the coalescence of two black holes carry the signature of the strong field dynamics of binary black holes. In this work we have used numerical relativity simulations and post-Newtonian theory to investigate this dynamics. Post-Newtonian theory is a low-velocity expansion that assumes the companion bodies to be point-particles, while numerical relativity treats black holes as extended objects with horizons and fully captures their dynamics. There is a priori no reason for the waveforms computed using these disparate methods to agree with each other, especially at late t…
