Upper Limit on the Dissipation of Gravitational Waves in Gravitationally Bound Systems

Abstract

It is shown that a gravitationally bound system with a one-dimensional velocity dispersion σ can at most dissipate a fraction ∼ 36(σ/c) 3 of the gravitational wave energy propagating through it, even if their dynamical time is shorter than the wave period. The limit is saturated for low frequency waves propagating through a system of particles with a mean-free-path equal to the size of the system, such as hot protons in galaxy clusters, strongly-interacting dark matter particles in halos, or massive black holes in clusters. For such systems with random motions and no resonances, the dissipated fraction, 10 −6 , does not degrade the use of gravitational waves as cosmological probes. At high wave frequencies, the dissipated fraction is additionally suppressed by the square of the ratio between the collision frequency and the wave frequency. The electromagnetic counterparts that result from the dissipation are too faint to be detectable at cosmological distances.

Resonances, black hole mimickers, and the greenhouse effect: Consequences for gravitational-wave physics

“…One might question if additional dissipation mechanisms could undermine the fueling-up of the cavity and excitation of resonances. GWs are known to interact very weakly with matter, with effects only being relevant at the Hubble timescale [78][79][80][81]. Hence, any additional channel of dissipation should be subdominant with respect to the emission of waves to infinity and the trapping of energy by the central object on the timescales of interest for these systems.…”

Attenuated Gravitational Radiation

“…We understand that this study can be entertained using the language of fiber bundles, vierbeine and spin connection. A phenomenological study can be determining the upper limit of the dissipation of GW [26], and another interesting direction concerns inquiring whether (2) can be generalized to more general algebraic transformations that could generate oscillations of the space-time. A further interesting possibility is to study quantum effects using the attenuation factor, something that has already been done in the case of the Yukawa theory [24].…”