Metric perturbations produced by eccentric equatorial orbits around a Kerr black hole

Abstract

We present the first numerical calculation of the (local) metric perturbation produced by a small compact object moving on an eccentric equatorial geodesic around a Kerr black hole, accurate to first order in the mass ratio. The procedure starts by first solving the Teukolsky equation to obtain the Weyl scalar $\psi_4$ using semi-analytical methods. The metric perturbation is then reconstructed from $\psi_4$ in an (outgoing) radiation gauge, adding the appropriate non-radiative contributions arising from the shifts in mass and angular momentum of the spacetime. As a demonstration we calculate the generalized redshift $U$ as a function of the orbital frequencies $\Omega_r$ and $\Omega_\phi$ to linear order in the mass ratio, a gauge invariant measure of the conservative corrections to the orbit due to self-interactions. In Schwarzschild, the results surpass the existing result in the literature in accuracy, and we find new estimates for some of the unknown 4PN and 5PN terms in the post-Newtonian expansion of $U$. In Kerr, we provide completely novel values of $U$ for eccentric equatorial orbits. Calculation of the full self-force will appear in a forthcoming paper.