Gravitational radiation from the radial infall of highly relativistic point particles into Kerr black holes

In this paper, we consider the gravitational radiation generated by the collision of highly relativistic particles with rotating Kerr black holes. We use the Sasaki-Nakamura formalism to compute the waveform, energy spectra, and total energy radiated during this process. We show that the gravitational spectrum for high-energy collisions has definite characteristic universal features, which are independent of the spin of the colliding objects. We also discuss the possible connections between these results and black-hole-black-hole collisions at the speed of light. Our results show that during the high-speed collision of a nonrotating hole with a rotating one, at most 35% of the total energy can get converted into gravitational waves. This 35% efficiency occurs only in the most optimistic situation, that of a zero impact parameter collision, along the equatorial plane, with an almost extreme Kerr black hole. In the general situation, the total gravitational energy radiated is expected to be much less, especially if the impact parameter increases. Thus, if one is able to produce black holes at the CERN Large Hadron Collider, at most 35% of the partons' energy should be emitted during the so-called balding phase. This energy will be missing, since we do not have gravitational wave detectors able to measure such amplitudes. The collision at the speed of light between one rotating black hole and a nonrotating one or two rotating black holes turns out to be the most efficient gravitational wave generator in the Universe.