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arXiv · 2211.01399

Strong-field scattering of two black holes: Numerical Relativity meets Post-Minkowskian gravity

Thibault Damour·Piero Rettegno
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Abstract

We compare numerical relativity (NR) data on the scattering of equal-mass, non-spinning binary black holes to various analytical predictions based on post-Minkowskian (PM) results. While the usual sequence of PM-expanded scattering angles shows a rather poor convergence towards NR data, we find that a reformulation of PM information in terms of Effective-One-Body radial potentials leads to remarkable agreement with NR data, especially when using the radiation-reacted 4PM information. Using Firsov's inversion formula we directly extract, for the first time, from NR simulations a (radiation-reacted) gravitational potential describing the scattering of equal-mass, non-spinning binary black holes. We urge the NR community to compute more sequences of scattering simulations, so as to extend this knowledge to a wider region of parameter space.

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Thibault Damour, Piero Rettegno. 2023-03-04. Strong-field scattering of two black holes: Numerical Relativity meets Post-Minkowskian gravity. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.107.064051

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