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Wide nutation: binary black-hole spins repeatedly oscillating from full alignment to full anti-alignment

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

Change log

Authors

Gerosa, Davide 
Lima, Alicia 
Berti, Emanuele 
Kesden, Michael 

Abstract

Within the framework of 2PN black-hole binary spin precession, we explore configurations where one of the two spins oscillates from being completely aligned with the orbital angular momentum to being completely anti-aligned with it during a single precession cycle. This "wide nutation" is the extreme limit of the generic phenomenon of spin nutation in black-hole binaries. Crucially, wide nutation happens on the short precession time scale and it is not a secular effect due to gravitational-wave radiation reaction. The spins of these binaries, therefore, flip repeatedly as one of these special configurations is entered. Binaries with total mass M, mass ratio q, and dimensionless spin χ1 (χ2) of the more (less) massive black hole are allowed to undergo wide nutation at binary separations rrwide≡[(qχ2−χ1)/(1−q)]2M. Sources that are more likely to nutate widely have similar masses and effective spins close to zero.

Description

Keywords

black holes, gravitational waves, spin precession

Journal Title

Classical and Quantum Gravity

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1361-6382
1361-6382

Volume Title

36

Publisher

Institute of Physics Publishing
Sponsorship
European Research Council (646597)
European Commission Horizon 2020 (H2020) Marie Sk?odowska-Curie actions (690904)
Science and Technology Facilities Council (ST/P000673/1)
Science and Technology Facilities Council (ST/H008586/1)
Science and Technology Facilities Council (ST/J005673/1)
Science and Technology Facilities Council (ST/K00333X/1)