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dc.contributor.advisorScott A. Hughes.en_US
dc.contributor.authorThrowe, William (William Thomas)en_US
dc.contributor.otherMassachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Physics.en_US
dc.date.accessioned2011-02-23T14:39:27Z
dc.date.available2011-02-23T14:39:27Z
dc.date.copyright2010en_US
dc.date.issued2010en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/61270
dc.descriptionThesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Physics, 2010.en_US
dc.descriptionCataloged from PDF version of thesis.en_US
dc.descriptionIncludes bibliographical references (p. 63-64).en_US
dc.description.abstractOrbits around black holes evolve due to gravitational-wave emission, losing energy and angular momentum, and driving the orbiting body to slowly spiral into the black hole. Recent theoretical advances now make it possible to model the impact of this wave emission on generic (eccentric and inclined) black hole orbits, allowing us to push beyond the handful of constrained (circular or equatorial) cases that previous work considered. This thesis presents the first systematic study of how generic black hole orbits evolve due to gravitational-wave emission. In addition to extending the class of orbits which can be analyzed, we also introduce a new formalism for solving for the wave equation which describes radiative backreaction. This approach is based on a spectral decomposition of the radiation field originally introduced by Mano, Suzuki, and Takasugi (MST), and was then adapted for numerical analysis by Fujita and Tagoshi (FT). We find that the MST-FT formalism allows us to compute various quantities significantly more accurately than previous work, even in strong field regimes. We use this code to explore the location in orbital parameter space of the surface at which the evolution of orbital eccentricity changes sign from negative (orbits circularize) to positive (orbits become more eccentric).en_US
dc.description.statementofresponsibilityby William Throwe.en_US
dc.format.extent64 p.en_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisherMassachusetts Institute of Technologyen_US
dc.rightsM.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.en_US
dc.rights.urihttp://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582en_US
dc.subjectPhysics.en_US
dc.titleHigh precision calculation of generic extreme mass ratio inspiralsen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
dc.description.degreeS.B.en_US
dc.contributor.departmentMassachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
dc.identifier.oclc701926425en_US


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