arXiv subjects

Eric Poisson

Publications and source records attributed to Eric Poisson.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2013

Electromagnetic self-force on a static charge in Schwarzschild-de Sitter spacetimes

We compute the self-force acting on an electric charge at rest in Schwarzschild-de Sitter spacetimes, allowing the cosmological constant to be either positive or negative. In the case of a positive cosmological constant, we show that the self-force is always positive, representing a repulsion from the black hole, and monotonically decreasing with increasing distance from the black hole. The spectrum of results is richer in the case of a negative cosmological constant. Here the self-force is not always positive --- it is negative when the black-hole and cosmological scales are comparable and the charge is close to the black hole --- and not always monotonically decreasing --- it is actually monotonically increasing when the cosmological scale is sufficiently small compared to the black-hole scale. The self-force also approaches a constant asymptotic value when the charge is moved to large cosmological distances; this feature can be explained in terms of an interaction between the charge and the conformal boundary at infinity, which acts as a grounded conductor.

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arXiv2013

Tidal heating and torquing of a Kerr black hole to next-to-leading order in the tidal coupling

We calculate the linear vacuum perturbations of a Kerr black hole surrounded by a slowly-varying external spacetime to third order in the ratio of the black-hole mass to the radius of curvature of the external spacetime. This expansion applies to two relevant physical scenarios: (i) a small Kerr black hole immersed in the gravitational field of a much larger external black hole, and (ii) a Kerr black hole moving slowly around another external black hole of comparable mass. This small-hole/slow-motion approximation allows us to parametrize the perturbation through slowly-varying, time-dependent electric and magnetic tidal tensors, which then enables us to separate the Teukolsky equation and compute the Newman-Penrose scalar analytically to third order in our expansion parameter. We obtain generic expressions for the mass and angular momentum flux through the perturbed black hole horizon, as well as the rate of change of the horizon surface area, in terms of certain invariants constructed from the electric and magnetic tidal tensors. We conclude by applying these results to the two scenarios described above.

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arXiv2013

Self-force as a cosmic censor

We examine Hubeny's scenario according to which a near-extremal Reissner-Nordström black hole can absorb a particle and be driven toward an over-extremal state in which the charge exceeds the mass, signaling the destruction of the black hole. Our analysis incorporates the particle's electromagnetic self-force and the energy radiated to infinity in the form of electromagnetic waves. With these essential ingredients, our sampling of the parameter space reveals no instances of an overcharged final state, and we conjecture that the self-force acts as a cosmic censor, preventing the destruction of a near-extremal black hole by the absorption of a charged particle. We argue, on the basis of the third law of black-hole mechanics, that this conclusion is robust and should apply to attempts to overspin a Kerr black hole.

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arXiv2012

Self-force as probe of internal structure

The self-force acting on a (scalar or electric) charge held in place outside a massive body contains information about the body's composition, and can therefore be used as a probe of internal structure. We explore this theme by computing the (scalar or electromagnetic) self-force when the body is a spherical ball of perfect fluid in hydrostatic equilibrium, under the assumption that its rest-mass density and pressure are related by a polytropic equation of state. The body is strongly self-gravitating, and all computations are performed in exact general relativity. The dependence on internal structure is best revealed by expanding the self-force in powers of 1/r, with r denoting the radial position of the charge outside the body. To the leading order, the self-force scales as 1/r^3 and depends only on the square of the charge and the body's mass; the leading self-force is universal. The dependence on internal structure is seen at the next order, 1/r^5, through a structure factor that depends on the equation of state. We compute this structure factor for relativistic polytropes, and show that for a fixed mass, it increases linearly with the body's radius in the case of the scalar self-force, and quadratically with the body's radius in the case of the electromagnetic self-force. In both cases we find that for a fixed mass and radius, the self-force is smaller if the body is more centrally dense, and larger if the mass density is more uniformly distributed.

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arXiv2012

Regularization of static self-forces

Various regularization methods have been used to compute the self-force acting on a static particle in a static, curved spacetime. Many of these are based on Hadamard's two-point function in three dimensions. On the other hand, the regularization method that enjoys the best justification is that of Detweiler and Whiting, which is based on a four-dimensional Green's function. We establish the connection between these methods and find that they are all equivalent, in the sense that they all lead to the same static self-force. For general static spacetimes, we compute local expansions of the Green's functions on which the various regularization methods are based. We find that these agree up to a certain high order, and conjecture that they might be equal to all orders. We show that this equivalence is exact in the case of ultrastatic spacetimes. Finally, our computations are exploited to provide regularization parameters for a static particle in a general static and spherically-symmetric spacetime.

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arXiv2011

The motion of point particles in curved spacetime

This review is concerned with the motion of a point scalar charge, a point electric charge, and a point mass in a specified background spacetime. In each of the three cases the particle produces a field that behaves as outgoing radiation in the wave zone, and therefore removes energy from the particle. In the near zone the field acts on the particle and gives rise to a self-force that prevents the particle from moving on a geodesic of the background spacetime. The field's action on the particle is difficult to calculate because of its singular nature: the field diverges at the position of the particle. But it is possible to isolate the field's singular part and show that it exerts no force on the particle. What remains after subtraction is a smooth field that is fully responsible for the self-force. The mathematical tools required to derive the equations of motion of a point scalar charge, a point electric charge, and a point mass in a specified background spacetime are developed here from scratch. The review begins with a discussion of the basic theory of bitensors. It then applies the theory to the construction of convenient coordinate systems to chart a neighbourhood of the particle's word line. It continues with a thorough discussion of Green's functions in curved spacetime. The review presents a detailed derivation of each of the three equations of motion. Because the notion of a point mass is problematic in general relativity, the review concludes with an alternative derivation of the equations of motion that applies to a small body of arbitrary internal structure.

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arXiv2011

Intrinsic and extrinsic geometries of a tidally deformed black hole

A description of the event horizon of a perturbed Schwarzschild black hole is provided in terms of the intrinsic and extrinsic geometries of the null hypersurface. This description relies on a Gauss-Codazzi theory of null hypersurfaces embedded in spacetime, which extends the standard theory of spacelike and timelike hypersurfaces involving the first and second fundamental forms. We show that the intrinsic geometry of the event horizon is invariant under a reparameterization of the null generators, and that the extrinsic geometry depends on the parameterization. Stated differently, we show that while the extrinsic geometry depends on the choice of gauge, the intrinsic geometry is gauge invariant. We apply the formalism to solutions to the vacuum field equations that describe a tidally deformed black hole. In a first instance we consider a slowly-varying, quadrupolar tidal field imposed on the black hole, and in a second instance we examine the tide raised during a close parabolic encounter between the black hole and a small orbiting body.

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arXiv2009

Geometry and dynamics of a tidally deformed black hole

The metric of a nonrotating black hole deformed by a tidal interaction is calculated and expressed as an expansion in the strength of the tidal coupling. The expansion parameter is the inverse length scale R^{-1}, where R is the radius of curvature of the external spacetime in which the black hole moves. The expansion begins at order R^{-2}, and it is carried out through order R^{-4}. The metric is parameterized by a number of tidal multipole moments, which specify the black hole's tidal environment. The tidal moments are freely-specifiable functions of time that are related to the Weyl tensor of the external spacetime. The metric is presented in a light-cone coordinate system that possesses a clear geometrical meaning: The advanced-time coordinate $v$ is constant on past light cones that converge toward the black hole; the angles theta and phi are constant on the null generators of each light cone; and the radial coordinate r is an affine parameter on each generator, which decreases as the light cones converge toward the black hole. The coordinates are well-behaved on the black-hole horizon, and they are adjusted so that the coordinate description of the horizon is the same as in the Schwarzschild geometry: r = 2M. At the order of accuracy maintained in this work, the horizon is a stationary null hypersurface foliated by apparent horizons; it is an isolated horizon in the sense of Ashtekar and Krishnan. As an application of our results we examine the induced geometry and dynamics of the horizon, and calculate the rate at which the black-hole surface area increases as a result of the tidal interaction.

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arXiv2009

Constructing the self-force

I present an overview of the methods involved in the computation of the scalar, electromagnetic, and gravitational self-forces acting on a point particle moving in a curved spacetime. For simplicity, the focus here will be on the scalar self-force. The lecture follows closely my review article on this subject published in Living Reviews in Relativity. I begin with a review of geometrical elements (Synge's world function, the parallel propagator). Next I introduce useful coordinate systems (Fermi normal coordinates and retarded light-cone coordinates) in a neighborhood of the particle's world line. I then present the wave equation for a scalar field in curved spacetime and the equations of motion for a particle endowed with a scalar charge. The wave equation is solved by means of a Green's function, and the self-force is constructed from the field gradient. Because the retarded field is singular on the world line, the self-force must involve a regularized version of the field gradient, and I describe how the regular piece of the self-field can be identified. In the penultimate section of the lecture I put the construction of the self-force on a sophisticated axiomatic basis, and in the concluding section I explain how one can do better by abandoning the dangerous fiction of a point particle

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arXiv2009

Relativistic theory of tidal Love numbers

In Newtonian gravitational theory, a tidal Love number relates the mass multipole moment created by tidal forces on a spherical body to the applied tidal field. The Love number is dimensionless, and it encodes information about the body's internal structure. We present a relativistic theory of Love numbers, which applies to compact bodies with strong internal gravities; the theory extends and completes a recent work by Flanagan and Hinderer, which revealed that the tidal Love number of a neutron star can be measured by Earth-based gravitational-wave detectors. We consider a spherical body deformed by an external tidal field, and provide precise and meaningful definitions for electric-type and magnetic-type Love numbers; and these are computed for polytropic equations of state. The theory applies to black holes as well, and we find that the relativistic Love numbers of a nonrotating black hole are all zero.

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arXiv2009

Tidal interaction of a small black hole in the field of a large Kerr black hole

The rates at which the mass and angular momentum of a small black hole change as a result of a tidal interaction with a much larger black hole are calculated to leading order in the small mass ratio. The small black hole is either rotating or nonrotating, and it moves on a circular orbit in the equatorial plane of the large Kerr black hole. The orbits are fully relativistic, and the rates are computed to all orders in the orbital velocity V < V_{isco}, which is limited only by the size of the innermost stable circular orbit. We show that as V \to V_{isco}, the rates take on a limiting value that depends only on V_{isco} and not on the spin parameter of the large black hole.

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arXiv2009

Tidal interaction of black holes and Newtonian viscous bodies

The tidal interaction of a (rotating or nonrotating) black hole with nearby bodies produces changes in its mass, angular momentum, and surface area. Similarly, tidal forces acting on a Newtonian, viscous body do work on the body, change its angular momentum, and part of the transferred gravitational energy is dissipated into heat. The equations that describe the rate of change of the black-hole mass, angular momentum, and surface area as a result of the tidal interaction are compared with the equations that describe how the tidal forces do work, torque, and produce heat in the Newtonian body. The equations are strikingly similar, and unexpectedly, the correspondence between the Newtonian-body and black-hole results is revealed to hold in near-quantitative detail. The correspondence involves the combination k_2 τof ``Love quantities'' that incorporate the details of the body's internal structure; k_2 is the tidal Love number, and τis the viscosity-produced delay between the action of the tidal forces and the body's reaction. The combination k_2 τis of order GM/c^3 for a black hole of mass M; it does not vanish, in spite of the fact that k_2 is known to vanish individually for a nonrotating black hole.

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arXiv2008

Nonrotating black hole in a post-Newtonian tidal environment

We examine the motion and tidal dynamics of a nonrotating black hole placed within a post-Newtonian external spacetime. The tidal perturbation created by the external environment is treated as a small perturbation. At a large distance from the black hole, the gravitational field of the external distribution of matter is assumed to be sufficiently weak to be adequately described by the (first) post-Newtonian approximation to general relativity. There, the black hole is treated as a monopole contribution to the total gravitational field. There exists an overlap in the domains of validity of each description, and the black-hole and post-Newtonian metrics are matched in the overlap. The matching procedure produces the equations of motion for the black hole and the gravito-electric and gravito-magnetic tidal fields acting on the black hole. We first calculate the equations of motion and tidal fields by making no assumptions regarding the nature of the post-Newtonian environment; this could contain a continuous distribution of matter or any number of condensed bodies. We next specialize our discussion to a situation in which the black hole is a member of a post-Newtonian two-body system. As an application of our results, we examine the geometry of the deformed event horizon and calculate the tidal heating of the black hole, the rate at which it acquires mass as a result of its tidal interaction with the companion body.

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arXiv2007

Multi-scale analysis of the electromagnetic self-force in a weak gravitational field

We examine the motion of a charged particle in a weak gravitational field. In addition to the Newtonian gravity exerted by a large central body, the particle is subjected to an electromagnetic self-force that contains both a conservative piece and a radiation-reaction piece. This toy problem shares many of the features of the strong-field gravitational self-force problem, and it is sufficiently simple that it can be solved exactly with numerical methods, and approximately with analytical methods. We submit the equations of motion to a multi-scale analysis, and we examine the roles of the conservative and radiation-reaction pieces of the self-force. We show that the radiation-reaction force drives secular changes in the orbit's semilatus rectum and eccentricity, while the conservative force drives a secular regression of the periapsis and affects the orbital time function; neglect of the conservative term can hence give rise to an important phasing error. We next examine what might be required in the formulation of a reliable adiabatic approximation for the orbital evolution; this would capture all secular changes in the orbit and discard all irrelevant oscillations. We conclude that such an approximation would be very difficult to formulate without prior knowledge of the exact solution.

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arXiv2007

Osculating orbits in Schwarzschild spacetime, with an application to extreme mass-ratio inspirals

We present a method to integrate the equations of motion that govern bound, accelerated orbits in Schwarzschild spacetime. At each instant the true worldline is assumed to lie tangent to a reference geodesic, called an osculating orbit, such that the worldline evolves smoothly from one such geodesic to the next. Because a geodesic is uniquely identified by a set of constant orbital elements, the transition between osculating orbits corresponds to an evolution of the elements. In this paper we derive the evolution equations for a convenient set of orbital elements, assuming that the force acts only within the orbital plane; this is the only restriction that we impose on the formalism, and we do not assume that the force must be small. As an application of our method, we analyze the relative motion of two massive bodies, assuming that one body is much smaller than the other. Using the hybrid Schwarzschild/post-Newtonian equations of motion formulated by Kidder, Will, and Wiseman, we treat the unperturbed motion as geodesic in a Schwarzschild spacetime whose mass parameter is equal to the system's total mass. The force then consists of terms that depend on the system's reduced mass. We highlight the importance of conservative terms in this force, which cause significant long-term changes in the time-dependence and phase of the relative orbit. From our results we infer some general limitations of the radiative approximation to the gravitational self-force, which uses only the dissipative terms in the force.

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arXiv2007

Extended-body approach to the electromagnetic self-force in curved spacetime

We offer a novel derivation of the electromagnetic self-force acting on a charged particle moving in an arbitrary curved spacetime. Our derivation is based on a generalization from flat spacetime to curved spacetime of the extended-body approach of Ori and Rosenthal. In this approach the charged particle is first modeled as a body of finite extension s, the net force acting on the extended body is computed, and the limit s -> 0 is taken at the end of the calculation. Concretely our extended body is a dumbbell that consists of two point charges that are maintained at a constant spacelike separation s. The net force acting on the dumbbell includes contributions from the mutual forces exerted on each charge by the field created by the other charge, the individual self-forces exerted on each charge by its own field, and the external force which is mostly responsible for the dumbbell's acceleration. These contributions are added up, in a way that respects the curved nature of the spacetime, and all diverging terms in the net force are shown to be removable by mass renormalization. Our end result, in the limit s -> 0, is the standard expression for the electromagnetic self-force in curved spacetime.

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arXiv2006

Mode-sum regularization of the scalar self-force: Formulation in terms of a tetrad decomposition of the singular field

We examine the motion in Schwarzschild spacetime of a point particle endowed with a scalar charge. The particle produces a retarded scalar field which interacts with the particle and influences its motion via the action of a self-force. We exploit the spherical symmetry of the Schwarzschild spacetime and decompose the scalar field in spherical-harmonic modes. Although each mode is bounded at the position of the particle, a mode-sum evaluation of the self-force requires regularization because the sum does not converge: the retarded field is infinite at the position of the particle. The regularization procedure involves the computation of regularization parameters, which are obtained from a mode decomposition of the Detweiler-Whiting singular field; these are subtracted from the modes of the retarded field, and the result is a mode-sum that converges to the actual self-force. We present such a computation in this paper. There are two main aspects of our work that are new. First, we define the regularization parameters as scalar quantities by referring them to a tetrad decomposition of the singular field. Second, we calculate four sets of regularization parameters (denoted schematically by A, B, C, and D) instead of the usual three (A, B, and C). As proof of principle that our methods are reliable, we calculate the self-force acting on a scalar charge in circular motion around a Schwarzschild black hole, and compare our answers with those recorded in the literature.

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arXiv2006

Light-cone coordinates based at a geodesic world line

Continuing work initiated in an earlier publication [Phys. Rev. D 69, 084007 (2004)], we construct a system of light-cone coordinates based at a geodesic world line of an arbitrary curved spacetime. The construction involves (i) an advanced-time or a retarded-time coordinate that labels past or future light cones centered on the world line, (ii) a radial coordinate that is an affine parameter on the null generators of these light cones, and (iii) angular coordinates that are constant on each generator. The spacetime metric is calculated in the light-cone coordinates, and it is expressed as an expansion in powers of the radial coordinate in terms of the irreducible components of the Riemann tensor evaluated on the world line. The formalism is illustrated in two simple applications, the first involving a comoving world line of a spatially-flat cosmology, the other featuring an observer placed on the axis of symmetry of Melvin's magnetic universe.

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