Speaker : P. Giudice

Title : Time-domain metric reconstruction for self-force applications

Abstract : We develop and implement a new method for calculation of the gravitational self-force (GSF) in Kerr geometry, using a time-domain reconstruction of the metric perturbation from curvature scalars. Existing frequency-domain methods are restricted to bound, periodic orbits, and are not suitable for studying the self-consistent evolution of inspiral orbits under the GSF, while current time-domain methods rely on a direct integration of the linearised Einstein’s equations and are very computationally expensive. In our new method the GSF is computed directly from a certain self-potential that satisfies a single, scalar-like wave equation on the Kerr background. The method is thus much easier to implement numerically, and should facilitate efficient calculations of the long-term orbital evolution, as well as the study of unbound orbits. We formulate our method, and present a first numerical application for circular orbits in Schwarzschild.