Reconstructing the Gravitational Waveform from Its Probe Limit

Abstract

Gravitational observables for binary systems exhibit a simple polynomial dependence on the masses $m_1$, $m_2$ of the two scattering objects when they are written in terms of the appropriate kinematic variables in the post-Minkowskian (PM) regime. We point out that this property, combined with particle interchange symmetry, allows one to reconstruct the leading and subleading PM waveforms from their probe limit, $m_1 \gg m_2$. As an application, focusing on their re-expansion in the small-velocity or post-Newtonian (PN) regime, we calculate the probe-limit waveforms up to 10PN, and then exploit this observation to deduce from them the waveforms for generic masses in the center-of-mass frame up to 5PN. To this end, we employ both the amplitude-based waveform integrands and the tail formula. This combined approach simplifies substantially the PN expansion of the full subleading PM waveform.