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Gravitational Waves Problem Set Solutions

The document is a problem set focused on gravitational waves and includes various tasks related to the quadrupole formula, Newtonian mechanics, and the analysis of the GW150914 event. It requires calculations involving the Lagrangian of two orbiting masses, the relationship between frequency and orbital radius, and the strain produced by the motion of these masses. Additionally, it asks for estimations of power radiated during the merger of black holes and proofs related to the averaged quadrupole formula.

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5 views2 pages

Gravitational Waves Problem Set Solutions

The document is a problem set focused on gravitational waves and includes various tasks related to the quadrupole formula, Newtonian mechanics, and the analysis of the GW150914 event. It requires calculations involving the Lagrangian of two orbiting masses, the relationship between frequency and orbital radius, and the strain produced by the motion of these masses. Additionally, it asks for estimations of power radiated during the merger of black holes and proofs related to the averaged quadrupole formula.

Uploaded by

ahmadshareefshaik427
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Problem Set 10

1 Gravitational Waves
Recall the quadrupole formula for gravitational waves (reintroducing the factors of c):

2G 1 d2 Iij (t − r/c)
hij (t, ⃗x) = − , (1.1)
c4 r dt2
where hµν = hµν − hηµν /2 is the trace-reversed perturbation (gµν = ηµν + hµν ).

1. Consider two objects with masses m1 , m2 at positions ⃗r1 (t), ⃗r2 (t) that are orbiting each
other in Newtonian gravity. Write down the (Newtonian) Lagrangian and perform a
change of variables so that you are describing this system in terms of the motion of a
single fictitious particle in a central potential:
1 GM µ
L = µ ⃗r˙ 2 + , (1.2)
2 |⃗r|
where the reduced mass µ, total mass M , and relative position ⃗r: are

1 −1
 
1 m1 m2
µ= + = , M = m1 + m2 , ⃗r(t) = ⃗r1 (t) − ⃗r2 (t). (1.3)
m1 m2 m1 + m2
(Hint: Choose the position of the center of mass wisely, in view of (1.1)!)

2. Say the motion is completely circular. Find the (Newtonian) relation between the fre-
quency f and the radius R of the circular orbit.

3. Choose an orientation for this circular motion with radius R and angular frequency ω =
2πf and calculate (all components of) the quadrupole tensor:
Z
Iij (t) = d3 y y i y j T 00 (t, ⃗y ), (1.4)

and then calculate the strain hij (t, ⃗x) given in (1.1). What is the maximum size that the
strain achieves (in any component)? You can assume we are dealing with point particles,
so that T 00 (t, ⃗y ) ∝ δ(⃗r(t) − ⃗y ). Express your final answer in terms of the geometric masses
µ̃, M̃ , where e.g. µ̃ = (G/c2 )µ.

4. For the event GW150914 (the first ever GW detection), two black holes spiralled around
each other on a degrading nearly-circular orbit until they merged. The two initial black
holes had masses of m1 = 35M⊙ and m2 = 30M⊙ , where M⊙ is the mass of the sun (a
solar mass). The geometric solar mass is M̃⊙ = (G/c2 )M⊙ = 1.5 km. The merger event
took place about 430 Mpc from Earth. (One parsec is about 3.0856 · 1016 m.)
The black holes can be thought as “merging” (giving the end of the signal) when their
horizons start “overlapping”. How far away are the black holes at that point, if they are
both (almost) not rotating?
Calculate the frequency and strain associated with this event near the merger, and try to
“locate” it on the aLIGO characteristic strain sensitivity curve in Fig. 1. Do you see why
this event was particularly “clear”?

1
5. The total power radiated by a binary (averaged over cycles) is given by:

32 G 2 4 6
P = µ R ω . (1.5)
5 c5
Estimate this for GW150914 at the point of merger.

6. Prove (1.5) from the averaged quadrupole formula:

dE 1G
= − 5 ⟨∂t3 Iij ∂t3 Iij ⟩, (1.6)
dt 5c
where the sum over i, j is implied, and brackets denote averaging over orbits.

Figure 1. Noise curves of various detectors.


From [Link] [Link]

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