Self-force and radiation reaction in curved spacetime

Authors

  • Ian Vega National Institute of Physics, University of the Philippines Diliman

Abstract

The recent detection of gravitational waves by the Laser Interferometric Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) has finally ushered in the much-awaited era of gravitational wave astronomy. While much remains expected of LIGO and similar ground-based observatories, what shall ultimately succeed (and complement) them are future space-based counterparts sensitive to low-frequency gravitational waves. The modeling of so-called extreme-mass-ratio inspirals (EMRIs) is central to these future missions. EMRIs are binaries consisting of a supermassive black hole and a stellar-mass compact object, and are modeled by point particles moving in black hole spacetimes. Over the past two decades, researchers have vigorously pursued a better understanding of this deceptively simple physical system. Much of the challenge (and excitement) comes from the necessity of incorporating self-force effects or radiation reaction - the effect of a particle's own field on its motion. In curved spacetime, evaluating the self-force on a point particle is highly nontrivial, and its behavior can be quite surprising and unintuitive. Thus we see the promise of gravitational wave astronomy casting new light on a long-cherished problem of theoretical physics.
In this talk, I shall discuss the state-of-the-art in self-force theory and calculations. I shall also survey applications of the theory that go beyond gravitational wave astronomy. Finally, I will end with a personal take on future prospects and a list of interesting open problems.

About the Speaker

Ian Vega, National Institute of Physics, University of the Philippines Diliman

Ian Vega is an Associate Professor at the National Institute of Physics, University of the Philippines Diliman. His research interests span many areas of theoretical physics, but he presently concentrates on understanding physical phenomena in the strong gravity regime. He particularly likes thinking about black holes, alternative theories of gravity, self-force and radiation reaction in curved spacetime, and gravitational waves from compact objects. Ian earned his PhD in Physics in 2009 from the University of Florida (USA) under the supervision of Steve Detweiler. He was a postdoctoral research fellos of Eric Poisson at the University of Guelph (Canada) from 2009-2012, and then a postdoctoral research associate of Thomas Sotiriou in the Astrophysics Sector of SISSA-International School for Advanced Studies (Italy) from 2012-2015.

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Issue

Article ID

SPP-2016-PT-7

Section

Invited Presentations

Published

2017-08-11

How to Cite

[1]
I Vega, Self-force and radiation reaction in curved spacetime, Proceedings of the Samahang Pisika ng Pilipinas 34, SPP-2016-PT-7 (2017). URL: https://proceedings.spp-online.org/article/view/SPP-2016-PT-7.