Gravitational perturbations of the Schwarzschild spacetime: A practical covariant and gauge-invariant formalism

The perturbation theory of black holes has been useful recently for providing estimates of gravitational radiation from black hole collisions. Second order perturbation theory, relatively undeveloped until recently, has proved to be important both for providing refined estimates and for indicating the range of validity of perturbation theory. Here we present the second order formalism for perturbations of Schwarzschild spacetimes. The emphasis is on practical methods for carr...

We study the relativistic orbit of binary black holes in systems with small mass ratio. The trajectory of the smaller object (another black hole or a neutron star), represented as a particle, is determined by the geodesic equation on the perturbed massive black hole spacetime. The particle itself generates the gravitational perturbations leading to a problem that needs regularization. Here we study perturbations around a Schwarzschild black hole using Moncrief's gauge invaria...

The ``close limit,'' a method based on perturbations of Schwarzschild spacetime, has proved to be a very useful tool for finding approximate solutions to models of black hole collisions. Calculations carried out with second order perturbation theory have been shown to give the limits of applicability of the method without the need for comparison with numerical relativity results. Those second order calculations have been carried out in a fixed coordinate gauge, a method that ...

We formulate a spherical harmonically decomposed 1+1 scheme to self-consistently evolve the trajectory of a point particle and its gravitational metric perturbation to a Schwarzschild background spacetime. Following the work of Moncrief, we write down an action for perturbations in space-time geometry, combine that with the action for a point-particle, and then obtain Hamiltonian equations of motion for metric perturbations, the particle's coordinates, as well as their canoni...

A new approach to gravitational gauge-invariant perturbation theory begins from the fourth-order Einstein-Ricci system, a hyperbolic formulation of gravity for arbitrary lapse and shift whose centerpiece is a wave equation for curvature. In the Minkowski and Schwarzschild backgrounds, an intertwining operator procedure is used to separate physical gauge-invariant curvature perturbations from unphysical ones. In the Schwarzschild case, physical variables are found which satisf...

This is the Part I paper of our series of full papers on a gauge-invariant {\it linear} perturbation theory on the Schwarzschild background spacetime which was briefly reported in our short papers [K.~Nakamura, Class. Quantum Grav. {\bf 38} (2021), 145010; K.~Nakamura, Letters in High Energy Physics {\bf 2021} (2021), 215.]. We first review our general framework of the gauge-invariant perturbation theory, which can be easily extended to the {\it higher-order} perturbation the...

This is the Part II paper of our series of papers on a gauge-invariant perturbation theory on the Schwarzschild background spacetime. After reviewing our general framework of the gauge-invariant perturbation theory and the proposal on the gauge-invariant treatments for $l=0,1$ mode perturbations on the Schwarzschild background spacetime in the Part I paper [K.~Nakamura, arXiv:2110.13508 [gr-qc]], we examine the linearized Einstein equations for even-mode perturbations. We dis...

We consider full perturbations to a covariantly defined Schwarzschild spacetime. By constructing complex quantities, we derive two decoupled, covariant and gauge-invariant, wave-like equations for spin-weighted scalars. These arise naturally from the Bianchi identities and comprise a covariant representation of the Bardeen-Press equations for scalars with spin-weight $\pm2$. Furthermore, the covariant and gauge-invariant 1+1+2 formalism is employed, and consequently, the phys...

We address some of the issues that appear in the study of back reaction in Schwarzschild backgrounds. Our main object is the effective energy-momentum tensor (EEMT) of gravitational perturbations. It is commonly held that only asymptotically flat or radiation gauges can be employed for these purposes. We show that the traditional Regge-Wheeler gauge for the perturbations of the Schwarszchild metric can also be used for computing physical quantities both at the horizon and at ...

Every general relativity textbook emphasizes that coordinates have no physical meaning. Nevertheless, a coordinate choice must be made in order to carry out real calculations, and that choice can make the difference between a calculation that is simple and one that is a mess. We give a concrete illustration of the maxim that "coordinates matter" using the exact Schwarzschild solution for a vacuum, static, spherical spacetime. We review the standard textbook derivation, Schwar...