English

Gravitational radiation from hyperbolic orbits: comparison between self-force, post-Minkowskian, post-Newtonian, and numerical relativity results

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology 2026-04-30 v2 High Energy Physics - Theory

Abstract

In this work I use a frequency-domain Regge-Wheeler-Zerilli approach to compute the gravitational wave energy radiated by a compact body moving along a hyperbolic or parabolic geodesic of a Schwarzschild black hole. I compare my results with the latest post-Minkowskian (PM) calculations for the radiated energy and find agreement for hyperbolic orbits with large impact parameters and characterized by a velocity at infinity, vv_\infty, as large as v/c=0.7v_\infty/c=0.7. I also find agreement between my results and the leading-order PM expansion for the radiation absorbed by the black hole. I make further comparisons with post-Newtonian (PN) theory and show the effectiveness of a simple PN-PM hybrid model. Finally, I make a first comparison of the radiated energy between self-force and numerical relativity.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2512.02274,
  title  = {Gravitational radiation from hyperbolic orbits: comparison between self-force, post-Minkowskian, post-Newtonian, and numerical relativity results},
  author = {Niels Warburton},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2512.02274},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

18 pages, 8 figures, 1 table. Updated to match published version