Michele's wiki/blog

Authors: Thibault Damour, Alessandro Nagar

Date: 26 Apr 2007

Abstract: We update the analytical estimate of the final spin of a coalescing black-hole binary derived within the Effective-One-Body (EOB) approach. We consider unequal-mass non-spinning black-hole binaries. It is found that a more complete account of relevant physical effects (higher post-Newtonian accuracy, ringdown losses) allows the {\it analytical} EOB estimate to ‘converge towards’ the recently obtained {\it numerical} results within 2%. This agreement illustrates the ability of the EOB approach to capture the essential physics of coalescing black-hole binaries. Our analytical approach allows one to estimate the final spin of the black hole formed by coalescing binaries in a mass range ($\nu=m_1m_2/(m_1+m_2)ˆ2 < 0.16 $) which is not presently covered by numerical simulations.

abs pdf