English

High post-Minkowskian gravitational waveform for hyperbolic encounters in the extreme-mass-ratio limit

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology 2026-03-13 v1

Abstract

The frequency-domain waveform emitted by a two-body scattering process is computed in the extreme-mass-ratio limit through the fifth post-Minkowskian (PM) order (i.e., O(G5)O(G^5)) and the fractional sixth post-Newtonian (PN) order. The current accuracy of the scattering waveform obtained by quantum amplitude methods is the one-loop level corresponding to the 3PM order, whereas the 4PM waveform is known up to the 2PN order only as derived within the traditional multipolar-post-Minkowskian formalism. Direct comparison between these waveforms to the first order in the mass ratio shows that they differ at most by the effect of an angular-independent time shift, leading to a complete physical agreement at the same level of accuracy. The new results at the 4PM and 5PM orders thus provide a benchmark for future multiloop calculations. The soft limit of the waveform at the leading order in the small-frequency expansion gives the gravitational wave memory, which is evaluated at the 4PM and 5PM orders. The waveform is also used to obtain the radiated energy at O(G6)O(G^6), improving its knowledge from 3PN to 6PN level.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2603.11774,
  title  = {High post-Minkowskian gravitational waveform for hyperbolic encounters in the extreme-mass-ratio limit},
  author = {Andrea Geralico},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2603.11774},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

7 pages, revtex macros used