We compute the propagation and scattering of linear gravitational waves off a Schwarzschild black hole using a numerical code which solves a generalization of the Zerilli equation to a three dimensional cartesian coordinate system. Since the solution to this problem is well understood it represents a very good testbed for evaluating our ability to perform three dimensional computations of gravitational waves in spacetimes in which a black hole event horizon is present.
A generic, non-eccentric binary black hole (BBH) system emits gravitational waves (GWs) that are completely described by 7 intrinsic parameters: the black hole spin vectors and the ratio of their masses. Simulating a BBH coalescence by solving Einsteins equations numerically is computationally expensive, requiring days to months of computing resources for a single set of parameter values. Since theoretical predictions of the GWs are often needed for many different source parameters, a fast and accurate model is essential. We present the first surrogate model for GWs from the coalescence of BBHs including all $7$ dimensions of the intrinsic non-eccentric parameter space. The surrogate model, which we call NRSur7dq2, is built from the results of $744$ numerical relativity simulations. NRSur7dq2 covers spin magnitudes up to $0.8$ and mass ratios up to $2$, includes all $ell leq 4$ modes, begins about $20$ orbits before merger, and can be evaluated in $sim~50,mathrm{ms}$. We find the largest NRSur7dq2 errors to be comparable to the largest errors in the numerical relativity simulations, and more than an order of magnitude smaller than the errors of other waveform models. Our model, and more broadly the methods developed here, will enable studies that would otherwise require millions of numerical relativity waveforms, such as parameter inference and tests of general relativity with GW observations.
The analysis of gravitino fields in curved spacetimes is usually carried out using the Newman-Penrose formalism. In this paper we consider a more direct approach with eigenspinor-vectors on spheres, to separate out the angular parts of the fields in a Schwarzschild background. The radial equations of the corresponding gauge invariant variable obtained are shown to be the same as in the Newman-Penrose formalism. These equations are then applied to the evaluation of the quasinormal mode frequencies, as well as the absorption probabilities of the gravitino field scattering in this background.
We investigate here the behavior of a few spherically symmetric static acclaimed black hole solutions in respect of tidal forces in the geodesic frame. It turns out that the forces diverge on the horizon of cold black holes (CBH) while for ordinary ones, they do not. It is pointed out that Kruskal-like extensions do not render the CBH metrics nonsingular. We present a CBH that is available in the Brans-Dicke theory for which the tidal forces do not diverge on the horizon and in that sense it is a better one.
The extendibility of spacetime and the existence of weak solutions to the Einstein field equations beyond Cauchy horizons, is a crucial ingredient to examine the limits of General Relativity. Strong Cosmic Censorship serves as a firewall for gravitation by demanding inextendibility of spacetime beyond the Cauchy horizon. For asymptotically flat spacetimes, the predominance of the blueshift instability and the subsequent formation of a mass-inflation singularity at the Cauchy horizon have, so far, substantiated the conjecture. Accelerating black holes, described by the $C-$metric, are exact solutions of the field equations without a cosmological constant, which possess an acceleration horizon with similar causal properties to the cosmological horizon of de Sitter spacetime. Here, by considering linear scalar field perturbations, we provide numerical evidence for the stability of the Cauchy horizon of charged accelerating black holes. In particular, we show that the stability of Cauchy horizons in accelerating charged black holes is connected to quasinormal modes, we discuss the regularity requirement for which weak solutions to the field equations exist at the Cauchy horizon and show that Strong Cosmic Censorship may be violated near extremality.
We consider the motion of massive and massless particles in a five-dimensional spacetime with a compactified extra-dimensional space where a black hole is localized, i.e., a caged black hole spacetime. We show the existence of circular orbits and reveal their sequences and stability. In the asymptotic region, stable circular orbits always exist, which implies that four-dimensional gravity is more dominant because of the small extra-dimensional space. In the vicinity of a black hole, they do not exist because the effect of compactification is no longer effective. We also clarify the dependence of the sequences of circular orbits on the size of the extra-dimensional space by determining the appearance of the innermost stable circular orbit and the last circular orbit (i.e., the unstable photon circular orbit).