[Previous] | [Session 81] | [Next]

[81.11] Gravitational waves from parabolic encounters with black holes

S. L. Larson, J. R. Gair, D. Kennefick (CalTech)

The capture of compact bodies by black holes in galactic nuclei is an important prospective source for low frequency gravitational wave interferometers, such as the proposed Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). Of central importance is the capture rate, which is currently best known through simulations of the stellar dynamics of nuclear star clusters. This paper examines a parabolic treatment of the total emitted energy and angular momentum emitted via gravitational waves by a compact body on a close pass to a galactic black hole; these quantities determine whether a compact object becomes bound to the black hole or returns to interact with the star cluster which produced it.

[Previous] | [Session 81] | [Next]

Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 35#5
© 2003. The American Astronomical Soceity.