arXiv subjects

Georgios Lukes-Gerakopoulos

Publications and source records attributed to Georgios Lukes-Gerakopoulos.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2022

Extended bodies moving on geodesic trajectories

This work investigates whether an extended test body obeying the Mathisson-Papapetrou- Dixon equations under the Ohashi-Kyrian-Semerak spin supplementary condition can follow geodesic trajectories in curved spacetimes. In particular, we explore what are the requirements under which pole-dipole and pole-dipole-quadrupole approximated bodies moving in the Schwarzschild or Kerr spacetimes can follow equatorial geodesic trajectories. We do this exploration thoroughly in the pole-dipole case, while we focus just on particular trajectories in the pole-dipole-quadrupole case. Using the Ohashi-Kyrian-Semerak spin supplementary condition to fix the center of the mass of a pole-dipole body has the advantage that the hidden momentum is eliminated. This allows the four-velocity to be parallel to the four-momentum, which provides a convenient framework for our investigation. We discuss how this feature can be recovered at a pole-dipole-quadrupole approximation and what are the consequences.

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arXiv2022

Adiabatic equatorial inspirals of a spinning body into a Kerr black hole

The detection of gravitational waves from Extreme mass Ratio Inspirals (EMRIs) by the future space-based gravitational-wave detectors demands the generation of accurate enough waveform templates. Since the spin of the smaller secondary body cannot be neglected for the detection and parameter estimation of EMRIs, we study its influence on the phase of the gravitational waves from EMRIs with spinning secondary. We focus on generic eccentric equatorial orbits around a Kerr black hole. To model the spinning secondary object, we use the Mathisson-Papapetrou-Dixon equations in the pole-dipole approximation. Furthermore, we linearize in spin the orbital variables and the gravitational-wave fluxes from the respective orbits. We obtain these fluxes by using the Teukolsky formalism in the frequency domain. We derive the evolution equations for the spin induced corrections to the adiabatic evolution of an inspiral. Finally, through their numerical integration we find the gravitational-wave phase shift between an inspiral of a spinning and a non-spinnig body.

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arXiv2021

Spinning test body orbiting around a Kerr black hole: Eccentric equatorial orbits and their asymptotic gravitational-wave fluxes

We use the frequency and time domain Teukolsky formalism to calculate gravitational-wave fluxes from a spinning body on a bound eccentric equatorial orbit around a Kerr black hole. The spinning body is represented as a point particle following the pole-dipole approximation of the Mathisson-Papapetrou-Dixon equations. Reformulating these equations we are not only able to find the trajectory of a spinning particle in terms of its constants of motion, but also to provide a method to calculate the azimuthal and the radial frequency of this trajectory. Using these orbital quantities, we introduce the machinery to calculate through the frequency domain Teukolsky formalism the energy and the angular momentum fluxes at infinity, and at the horizon, along with the gravitational strain at infinity. We crosscheck the results obtained from the frequency domain approach with the results obtained from a time domain Teukolsky equation solver called Teukode.

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arXiv2021

Spinning test body orbiting around a Schwarzschild black hole: Comparing Spin Supplementary Conditions for Circular Equatorial Orbits

The Mathisson-Papapetrou-Dixon (MPD) equations describe the motion of an extended test body in general relativity. This system of equations, though, is underdetermined and has to be accompanied by constraining supplementary conditions, even in its simplest version, which is the pole-dipole approximation corresponding to a spinning test body. In particular, imposing a spin supplementary condition (SSC) fixes the center of the mass of the spinning body, i.e. the centroid of the body. In the present study, we examine whether characteristic features of the centroid of a spinning test body, moving in a circular equatorial orbit around a massive black hole, are preserved under the transition to another centroid of the same physical body, governed by a different SSC. For this purpose, we establish an analytical algorithm for deriving the orbital frequency of a spinning body, moving in the background of an arbitrary, stationary, axisymmetric spacetime with reflection symmetry, for the Tulzcyjew-Dixon, the Mathisson-Pirani and the Ohashi-Kyrian-Semerák SSCs. Then, we focus on the Schwarzschild black hole background and a power series expansion method is developed, in order to investigate the discrepancies in the orbital frequencies expanded in power series of the spin among the different SSCs. Lastly, by employing the fact that the position of the centroid and the measure of the spin alters under the centroid's transition, we impose proper corrections to the power expansion of the orbital frequencies, which allows to improve the convergence between the SSCs. Our concluding argument is that when we shift from one circular equatorial orbit to another in the Schwarzschild background, under the change of a SSC, the convergence between the SSCs holds only up to certain powers in the spin expansion, and it cannot be achieved for the whole power series.

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arXiv2021

Non-linear effects in EMRI dynamics and their imprints on gravitational waves

The largest part of any gravitational-wave inspiral of a compact binary can be understood as a slow, adiabatic drift between the trajectories of a certain referential conservative system. In many contexts, the phase space of this conservative system is smooth and there are no "topological transitions" in the phase space, meaning that there are no sudden qualitative changes in the character of the orbital motion during the inspiral. However, in this chapter we discuss the cases where this assumption fails and non-linear and/or non-smooth transitions come into play. In integrable conservative systems under perturbation, topological transitions suddenly appear at resonances, and we sketch how to implement the passage through such regions in an inspiral model. Even though many of the developments of this chapter apply to general inspirals, we focus on a particular scenario known as the Extreme mass ratio inspiral (EMRI). An EMRI consists of a compact stellar-mass object inspiralling into a supermassive black hole. At leading order, the referential conservative system is simply geodesic motion in the field of the supermassive black hole and the rate of the drift is given by radiation reaction. In Einstein gravity the supermassive black hole field is the Kerr space-time in which the geodesic motion is integrable. However, the equations of motion can be perturbed in various ways so that prolonged resonances and chaos appear in phase space as well as the inspiral, which we demonstrate in simple physically motivated examples.

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arXiv2021

Gravitational wave templates from Extreme Mass Ratio Inspirals

An extreme mass ratio inspiral takes place when a compact stellar object is inspiraling into a supermassive black hole due to gravitational radiation reaction. Gravitational waves (GWs) from this system can be calculated using the Teukolsky equation (TE). In our case, we compute the asymptotic GW fluxes of a spinning body orbiting a Kerr black hole by solving numerically the TE both in time and frequency domain. Our ultimate goal is to produce GW templates for space-based detectors such as LISA.

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arXiv2020

Dynamics of classes of barotropic fluids in spatially curved FRW spacetimes

In this article we perform dynamical analysis of a broad class of barotropic fluids in the spatially curved Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) spacetime background without considering the cosmological constant. The first part of our study concerns the dynamics of a fluid with an unspecified barotropic equation of state (EoS) having as the only assumption the non-negativity of the fluid's energy density. After defining a new set of dimensionless variables and a new evolution parameter, we introduce the function $Γ$ that encodes the EoS. In this general setup several features of the system are identified: critical points, invariant subsets and the characteristics of the function $Γ$, along with their cosmological interpretations. The second part of our work provides two examples with specific $Γ$ functions. In the first example we provide a $Γ$ function and then we exhibit how it can be trimmed down to a specific class of EoS through physical arguments, while in the second example we discuss the quadratic EoS studied in Phys.Rev. D {\bf 74}, 023523 (2006) by comparing our approach with their analysis.

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arXiv2019

Growth of resonances and chaos for a spinning test particle in the Schwarzschild background

Inspirals of stellar mass compact objects into supermassive black holes are known as extreme mass ratio inspirals. In the simplest approximation, the motion of the compact object is modeled as a geodesic in the space-time of the massive black hole with the orbit decaying due to radiated energy and angular momentum, thus yielding a highly regular inspiral. However, once the spin of the secondary compact body is taken into account, integrability is broken and prolonged resonances along with chaotic motion appear. We numerically integrate the motion of a spinning test body in the field of a non-spinning black hole and analyse it using various methods. We show for the first time that resonances and chaos can be found even for astrophysical values of spin. On the other hand, we devise a method to analyse the growth of the resonances, and we conclude that the resonances we observe are only caused by terms quadratic in spin and will generally stay very small in the small-mass-ratio limit. Last but not least, we compute gravitational waveforms by solving numerically the Teukolsky equations in the time-domain and establish that they carry information on the motion's dynamics. In particular, we show that the time series of the gravitational wave strain can be used to discern regular from chaotic motion of the source.

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arXiv2019

Probing the Nature of Black Holes: Deep in the mHz Gravitational-Wave Sky

Black holes are unique among astrophysical sources: they are the simplest macroscopic objects in the Universe, and they are extraordinary in terms of their ability to convert energy into electromagnetic and gravitational radiation. Our capacity to probe their nature is limited by the sensitivity of our detectors. The LIGO/Virgo interferometers are the gravitational-wave equivalent of Galileo's telescope. The first few detections represent the beginning of a long journey of exploration. At the current pace of technological progress, it is reasonable to expect that the gravitational-wave detectors available in the 2035-2050s will be formidable tools to explore these fascinating objects in the cosmos, and space-based detectors with peak sensitivities in the mHz band represent one class of such tools. These detectors have a staggering discovery potential, and they will address fundamental open questions in physics and astronomy. Are astrophysical black holes adequately described by general relativity? Do we have empirical evidence for event horizons? Can black holes provide a glimpse into quantum gravity, or reveal a classical breakdown of Einstein's gravity? How and when did black holes form, and how do they grow? Are there new long-range interactions or fields in our universe, potentially related to dark matter and dark energy or a more fundamental description of gravitation? Precision tests of black hole spacetimes with mHz-band gravitational-wave detectors will probe general relativity and fundamental physics in previously inaccessible regimes, and allow us to address some of these fundamental issues in our current understanding of nature.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2019

Asymptotic gravitational wave fluxes from a spinning particle in circular equatorial orbits around a rotating black hole

We present a new computation of the asymptotic gravitational wave energy fluxes emitted by a {\it spinning} particle in circular equatorial orbits about a Kerr black hole. The particle dynamics is computed in the pole-dipole approximation, solving the Mathisson-Papapetrou equations with the Tulczyjew spin-supplementary-condition. The fluxes are computed, for the first time, by solving the 2+1 Teukolsky equation in the time-domain using hyperboloidal and horizon-penetrating coordinates. Denoting by $M$ the black hole mass and by $μ$ the particle mass, we cover dimensionless background spins $a/M=(0,\pm0.9)$ and dimensionless particle spins $-0.9\leq S/μ^2 \leq +0.9$. Our results span orbits of Boyer-Lindquist coordinate radii $4\leq r/M \leq 30$; notably, we investigate the strong-field regime, in some cases even beyond the last-stable-orbit. We confirm, numerically, the Tanaka {\it et al.} [Phys.\ Rev.\ D 54, 3762] 2.5th order accurate Post-Newtonian (PN) predictions for the gravitational wave fluxes of a spinning particle in circular equatorial orbit: we find an unambiguos trend of the PN-prediction towards the numerical results when $r$ is large. At $r/M=30$ the fractional agreement between the full numerical flux, approximated as the sum over the modes $m=1,2,3$, and the PN prediction is $\lesssim0.5\%$ in all cases tested. This is close to our fractional numerical accuracy ($\sim 0.2\%$). For smaller radii, the agreement between the 2.5PN prediction and the numerical result progressively deteriorates. Our numerical data will be essential to develop suitably resummed expressions of the 2.5PN analytical fluxes in order to improve their accuracy in the strong-field regime.

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arXiv2019

Spinning test-body orbiting around Schwarzschild black hole: circular dynamics and gravitational-wave fluxes

We consider a spinning test-body in circular motion around a nonrotating black hole and analyze different prescriptions for the body's dynamics. We compare, for the first time, the Mathisson-Papapetrou formalism under the Tulczyjew spin-supplementary-condition (SSC), the Pirani SSC and the Ohashi-Kyrian-Semerak SSC, and the spinning particle limit of the effective-one-body Hamiltonian of [Phys.~Rev.~D.90,~044018(2014)]. We analyze the four different dynamics in terms of the ISCO shifts and in terms of the coordinate invariant binding energies, separating higher-order spin contributions from spin-orbit contributions. The asymptotic gravitational wave fluxes produced by the spinning body are computed by solving the inhomogeneous $(2+1)D$ Teukolsky equation and contrasted for the different cases. For small orbital frequencies $Ω$, all the prescriptions reduce to the same dynamics and the same radiation fluxes. For large frequencies, ${x \equiv (M Ω)^{2/3} >0.1 }$, where $M$ is the black hole mass, and especially for positive spins (aligned with orbital angular momentum) a significant disagreement between the different dynamics is observed. The ISCO shifts can differ up to a factor two for large positive spins; for the Ohashi-Kyrian-Semerak and the Pirani SSC the ISCO diverges around dimensionless spins $\sim0.52$ and $\sim0.94$ respectively. In the spin-orbit part of the energetics the deviation from the Hamiltonian dynamics is largest for the Ohashi-Kyrian-Semerak SSC; it exceeds $10\%$ for $x>0.17$. The Tulczyjew and the Pirani SSCs behave compatible across almost the whole spin and frequency range. Our results will have direct application in including spin effects to effective-one-body waveform models for circularized binaries in the extreme-mass-ratio limit.

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arXiv2019

Factorization and resummation: A new paradigm to improve gravitational wave amplitudes. III: the spinning test-body terms

We present new calculations of the energy flux of a spinning test-body on circular orbits around a Schwarzschild black hole at linear order in the particle spin. We compute the multipolar fluxes up to $\ell=m=6$ using two independent numerical solvers of theTeukolsky equation, one in the time domain and the other in the frequency domain. After linearization in the spin of the particle, we obtain an excellent agreement ($\sim 10^{-5}$) between the two numerical results.The calculation of the multipolar fluxes is also performed analytically (up to $\ell=7$) using the post-Newtonian (PN) expansion of the Teukolsky equation solution; each mode is obtained at 5.5PN order beyond the corresponding leading-order contribution. From the analytical fluxes we obtain the PN-expanded analytical waveform amplitudes. These quantities are then resummed using new procedures either based on the factorization of the orbital contribution (and resumming it independently from the spin-dependent factor) or on the factorization of the tail contribution solely for odd-parity multipoles. We compare these prescriptions and the resummation procedure proposed in Pan et al. [Phys. Rev. D 83 (2011) 064003] to the numerical data. We find that the new procedures significantly improve over the existing one that, notably, is inconsistent with the numerical data for $\ell+m=\text{odd}$ multipoles already at low orbital frequencies. Our study suggests that the approach to waveform resummation used in current effective-one-body-based waveform models should be modified to improve its robustness and accuracy all over the binary parameter space.

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arXiv2019

Classes of non-minimally coupled scalar fields in spatially curved FRW spacetimes

In this work we perform a dynamical analysis of a broad class of non-minimally coupled real scalar fields in the Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) spacetime framework. The first part of our study concerns the dynamics of an unspecified positive potential in a spatially curved FRW spacetime, for which we define a new set of dimensionless variables and a new evolution parameter. In the framework of this general setup we have recognized several general features of the system, like symmetries, invariant subsets and critical points, and provide their cosmological interpretation. The second part of our work focuses on flat FRW cases for which the tracker parameter is constant, i.e. we examine specific classes of potentials. After analyzing these cases dynamically, we discuss their physical interpretation.

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arXiv2019

Recurrence analysis of spinning particles in the Schwarzschild background

In this work the dynamics of a spinning particle moving in the Schwarzschild background is studied. In particular, the methods of Poincaré section and recurrence analysis are employed to discern chaos from order. It is shown that the chaotic or regular nature of the orbital motion is reflected on the gravitational waves.

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arXiv2019

Probing Dark Energy through Perfect Fluid Thermodynamics

We demonstrate that the thermodynamics of a perfect fluid describing baryonic matter can, in certain limits, lead to an equation of state similar to that of dark energy. We keep the cosmic fluid equation of state quite general by just demanding that the speed of sound is positive and less than the speed of light. In this framework, we discuss some propositions by looking at the asymptotic behavior of the cosmic fluid.

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arXiv2019

Hamiltonians and canonical coordinates for spinning particles in curved space-time

The spin-curvature coupling as captured by the so-called Mathisson-Papapetrou-Dixon (MPD) equations is the leading order effect of the finite size of a rapidly rotating compact astrophysical object moving in a curved background. It is also a next-to-leading order effect in the phase of gravitational waves emitted by extreme-mass-ratio inspirals (EMRIs), which are expected to become observable by the LISA space mission. Additionally, exploring the Hamiltonian formalism for spinning bodies is important for the construction of the so-called Effective-One-Body waveform models that should eventually cover all mass ratios. The MPD equations require supplementary conditions determining the frame in which the moments of the body are computed. We review various choices of these supplementary spin conditions and their properties. Then, we give Hamiltonians either in proper-time or coordinate-time parametrization for the Tulczyjew-Dixon, Mathisson-Pirani, and Kyrian-Semerák conditions. Finally, we also give canonical phase-space coordinates parametrizing the spin tensor. We demonstrate the usefulness of the canonical coordinates for symplectic integration by constructing Poincaré surfaces of section for spinning bodies moving in the equatorial plane in Schwarzschild space-time. We observe the motion to be essentially regular for EMRI-ranges of the spin, but for larger values the Poincaré surfaces of section exhibit the typical structure of a weakly chaotic system. A possible future application of the numerical integration method is the inclusion of spin effects in EMRIs at the precision requirements of LISA.

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arXiv2018

Spinning particles in general relativity: Momentum-velocity relation for the Mathisson-Pirani spin condition

The Mathisson-Papapetrou-Dixon (MPD) equations, providing the "pole-dipole" description of spinning test particles in general relativity, have to be supplemented by a condition specifying the worldline that will represent the history of the studied body. It has long been thought that the Mathisson-Pirani (MP) spin condition -- unlike other major choices made in the literature -- does not yield an explicit momentum-velocity relation. We derive here the desired (and very simple) relation and show that it is in fact equivalent to the MP condition. We clarify the apparent paradox between the existence of such a definite relation and the known fact that the MP condition is degenerate (does not specify a unique worldline), thus shedding light on some conflicting statements made in the literature. We then show how, for a given body, this spin condition yields infinitely many possible representative worldlines, and derive a detailed method how to switch between them in a curved spacetime. The MP condition is a convenient choice in situations when it is easy to recognize its "non-helical" solution, as exemplified here by bodies in circular orbits and in radial fall in the Schwarzschild spacetime.

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arXiv2017

Chaotic motion in the Johannsen-Psaltis spacetime

The Johannsen-Psaltis spacetime is a perturbation of the Kerr spacetime designed to avoid pathologies like naked singularities and closed timelike curves. This spacetime depends not only on the mass and the spin of the compact object, but also on extra parameters, making the spacetime deviate from Kerr; in this work we consider only the lowest order physically meaningful extra parameter. We use numerical examples to show that geodesic motion in this spacetime can exhibit chaotic behavior. We study the corresponding phase space by using Poincaré sections and rotation numbers to show chaotic behavior, and we use Lyapunov exponents to directly estimate the sensitivity to initial conditions for chaotic orbits.

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