Pulses of Gravitational Radiation of a Particle Falling Radially into a Schwarzschild Black Hole

Abstract

Using the Regge-Wheeler-Zerilli formalism of fully relativistic linear perturbations in the Schwarzschild metric, we analyze the radiation of a particle of mass $m$ falling into a Schwarzschild black hole of mass $M\gg m$. The detailed shape of the energy pulse and of the tide-producing components of the Riemann tensor at large distances from the source are given, as well as the angular distribution of the radiation. Finally, analysis of the energy going down the hole indicates the existence of a divergence; implications of this divergence as a testing ground of the approximation used are examined.