Bonn 2020 – scientific programme

The DPG Spring Meeting in Bonn had to be cancelled! Read more ...

Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Updates | Downloads | Help

GR: Fachverband Gravitation und Relativitätstheorie

GR 5: Gravitational Waves

GR 5.3: Talk

Tuesday, March 31, 2020, 12:00–12:15, H-HS IX

Is there a mass-ratio gap between numerical relativity and gravitational self-force? — •Harald Pfeiffer and Maarten van de Meent — Max Planck Institut für Gravitationsphysik, Am Mühlenberg 1, 14476 Potsdam

Future gravitational wave observatories ---both in space and on the ground --- will be sensitive to compact binary coalescences with mass-ratios between 1:10 and 1:1000. Numerical relativity simulations work very well for comparable mass binaries, but become increasingly challenging as the mass-ratio decreases, and are unlikely to cover this entire range. Gravitational self-force methods employ a systematic expansion in the mass-ratio to produce waveform models. Their natural regime of validity is therefore small mass-ratio binaries. We examine how accurate we can expect gravitational self-force models to be in the comparable mass regime. Is 1/4 a small number?