Head--on Collision of Two Unequal Mass Black Holes

Abstract

We present results from the first fully nonlinear numerical calculations of the head--on collision of two unequal mass black holes. Selected waveforms of the most dominant l=2, 3 and 4 quasinormal modes are shown, as are the total radiated energies and recoil velocities for a range of mass ratios and initial separations. Our results validate the close and distant separation limit perturbation studies, and suggest that the head--on collision scenario is not likely to produce an astrophysically significant recoil effect.