Initial data for black hole collisions

Thesis/Dissertation · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1985

OSTI ID:5486279

Rauber, J D

A problem of considerable interest in relativistic astrophysics is to determine the gravitational radiation produced by collisions of compact objects, such as black holes. Such collisions may occur, for example, in the nuclei of galaxies. This problem requires that one solve the Einstein equation without limiting approximations, for example, as a Cauchy problem. Therefore, one must first construct the initial data. The extrinsic curvature on an initial spacelike hypersurface of two black holes with axisymmetric parallel spins is derived in terms of an analytic infinite series. Other two-body configurations are also considered. The extrinsic curvature is constructed so that the resulting spacetime will have the topology of two Einstein-Rosen Bridges; a physical equivalence of the top and bottom sheets of the initial hypersurface is also built in. It is shown that one may a priori specify the spins of the two black holes. The extrinsic curvature, so constructed, is not derivable from a potential. An appropriate numerical problem for the conformal factor is posed and examined in the above configurations.

• Research Organization: North Carolina Univ., Chapel Hill (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5486279
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640102* -- Astrophysics & Cosmology-- Stars & Quasi-Stellar
Radio & X-Ray Sources
657003 -- Theoretical & Mathematical Physics-- Relativity & Gravitation
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
BLACK HOLES
COLLISIONS
CONFORMAL INVARIANCE
EINSTEIN FIELD EQUATIONS
EQUATIONS
FIELD EQUATIONS
GALAXY NUCLEI
GRAVITATIONAL RADIATION
INVARIANCE PRINCIPLES
MANY-BODY PROBLEM
RADIATIONS
SPACE-TIME
TWO-BODY PROBLEM