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The electromagnetic Christodoulou memory effect and its application to neutron star binary mergers

dc.contributor.authorBieri, Lydiaen_US
dc.contributor.authorChen, PoNingen_US
dc.contributor.authorYau, Shing-Tungen_US
dc.date.accessioned2013-06-28T15:25:47Z
dc.date.available2013-06-28T15:25:47Z
dc.date.issued2012en_US
dc.identifier.citationBieri, Lydia; Chen, PoNing; Yau, Shing-Tung (2012). "The electromagnetic Christodoulou memory effect and its application to neutron star binary mergers." Classical and Quantum Gravity 29(21): 215003. <http://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/98597>en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://stacks.iop.org/0264-9381/29/i=21/a=215003en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/98597
dc.description.abstractGravitational waves are predicted by the general theory of relativity. It has been shown that gravitational waves have a nonlinear memory, displacing test masses permanently. This is called the Christodoulou memory. We proved that the electromagnetic field contributes at highest order to the nonlinear memory effect of gravitational waves, enlarging the permanent displacement of test masses. In experiments like LISA or LIGO which measure distances of test masses, the Christodoulou memory will manifest itself as a permanent displacement of these objects. It has been suggested to detect the Christodoulou memory effect using radio telescopes investigating small changes in pulsar’s pulse arrival times. The latter experiments are based on present-day technology and measure changes in frequency. In the present paper, we study the electromagnetic Christodoulou memory effect and compute it for binary neutron star mergers. These are typical sources of gravitational radiation. During these processes, not only mass and momenta are radiated away in form of gravitational waves, but also very strong magnetic fields are produced and radiated away. Moreover, a large portion of the energy is carried away by neutrinos. We give constraints on the conditions, where the energy transported by electromagnetic radiation is of similar or slightly higher order than the energy radiated in gravitational waves or in form of neutrinos. We find that for coalescing neutron stars, large magnetic fields magnify the Christodoulou memory as long as the gaseous environment is sufficiently rarefied. Thus the observed effect on test masses of a laser interferometer gravitational wave detector will be enlarged by the contribution of the electromagnetic field. Therefore, the present results are important for the planned experiments. Looking at the null asymptotics of spacetimes, which are solutions of the Einstein–Maxwell equations, we derive the electromagnetic Christodoulou memory effect. We obtain an exact solution of the full nonlinear problem, no approximations were used. Moreover, our results allow to answer astrophysical questions, as the knowledge about the amount of energy radiated away in a neutron star binary merger enables us to gain information about the source of the gravitational waves.en_US
dc.publisherIOP Publishingen_US
dc.titleThe electromagnetic Christodoulou memory effect and its application to neutron star binary mergersen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
dc.subject.hlbsecondlevelPhysicsen_US
dc.subject.hlbtoplevelScienceen_US
dc.description.peerreviewedPeer Revieweden_US
dc.description.bitstreamurlhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/98597/1/0264-9381_29_21_215003.pdf
dc.identifier.doi10.1088/0264-9381/29/21/215003en_US
dc.identifier.sourceClassical and Quantum Gravityen_US
dc.owningcollnamePhysics, Department of


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