GRAVITATIONAL RADIATION INTERACTION BETWEEN 2 SEPARATED SYSTEMS

Einstein's power-transfer theory is developed to exhibit the rate at which energy is transferred by gravitational radiation from an emitter to an absorber in terms of their lowest-order contributing multipole moments (quadrupole), the separation distance, and the emitter frequency. The description of the interaction is complete, and the need to calculate fields is obviated. Consistency is demonstrated by comparing the total power transferred between the two systems with the power flux over an infinite sphere which arises from their interaction. The gravitational linear momentum flux which arises from the interaction is also shown to be purely quadrupole. Bonnor and Rotenberg, Papapetrou, and Peres demonstrated the quadrupole-octupole dependence for linear momentum flux from a single system, and the present work illustrates that a lower-order flux can be achieved by a double system. © 1969 The American Physical Society.