TY - JOUR
T1 - Ruling Out Chaos in Compact Binary Systems
AU - Schnittman, J. D.
AU - Rasio, F. A.
PY - 2001
Y1 - 2001
N2 - We investigate the orbits of compact binary systems during the final inspiral stage before coalescence by integrating the post-Newtonian equations of motion. We include spin-orbit and spin-spin coupling, which, according to a recent study [J. Levin, Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 3515 (2000)], may cause the orbits to appear chaotic. To examine this claim, we calculate the divergence of nearby trajectories and attempt to measure the Lyapunov exponent γ. For all systems considered, we find no chaotic behavior, placing a lower limit on the divergence time tL≡1/γ that is many times greater than the typical inspiral time, suggesting that chaos should not adversely affect the detection of inspiral events.
AB - We investigate the orbits of compact binary systems during the final inspiral stage before coalescence by integrating the post-Newtonian equations of motion. We include spin-orbit and spin-spin coupling, which, according to a recent study [J. Levin, Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 3515 (2000)], may cause the orbits to appear chaotic. To examine this claim, we calculate the divergence of nearby trajectories and attempt to measure the Lyapunov exponent γ. For all systems considered, we find no chaotic behavior, placing a lower limit on the divergence time tL≡1/γ that is many times greater than the typical inspiral time, suggesting that chaos should not adversely affect the detection of inspiral events.
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U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevLett.87.121101
DO - 10.1103/PhysRevLett.87.121101
M3 - Article
C2 - 11580495
AN - SCOPUS:39249084989
VL - 87
JO - Physical Review Letters
JF - Physical Review Letters
SN - 0031-9007
IS - 12
ER -