Scientists expect the release of gravitational waves and energy when two black holes merge. The merger of two black holes is conceivable when they are so close to one another in such a way that they cannot escape their gravitational attraction. A sophomore is asked to use the concepts of classical mechanics to find the energy variation ΔE of two black holes of mass Mb each during their merger. The energy variation is defined as the difference between the energy at the instant the merge occurs and the energy at the instant black holes were very far from each other. What does the sophomore report in terms of Mbc2? Hint: The merger occurs when the separation distance between the two black holes is twice the Schwarzschild radius and the black holes can be treated as point-like objects.
Scientists expect the release of gravitational waves and energy when two black holes merge. The merger of two black holes is conceivable when they are so close to one another in such a way that they cannot escape their gravitational attraction. A sophomore is asked to use the concepts of classical mechanics to find the energy variation ΔE of two black holes of mass Mb each during their merger. The energy variation is defined as the difference between the energy at the instant the merge occurs and the energy at the instant black holes were very far from each other. What does the sophomore report in terms of Mbc2? Hint: The merger occurs when the separation distance between the two black holes is twice the Schwarzschild radius and the black holes can be treated as point-like objects.