In fact, all these source moments make sense only in the form of a post-Newtonian expansion, so in
practice we need to know how to expand all the -integrals as series when
. Here is the
appropriate formula:
Theorem 6 solves in principle the question of the generation of gravitational waves by extended
post-Newtonian sources. However, note that this result has to be completed by the definition of an explicit
algorithm for the post-Newtonian iteration, analogous to the post-Minkowskian algorithm we defined in
Section 4, so that the source multipole moments, which contain the full post-Newtonian expansion of the
pseudo-tensor , can be completely specified. Such a systematic post-Newtonian iteration scheme, valid
(formally) to any post-Newtonian order, has been recently implemented by Poujade and Blanchet [123]
using matched asymptotic expansions (see Section 7 below for the metric developed explicitly up to the
3PN order). The solution of this problem yields, in particular, some general expression, valid up to any
order, of the terms associated with the gravitational radiation reaction force inside the post-Newtonian
source12.
Needless to say, the formalism becomes prohibitively difficult to apply at very high post-Newtonian
approximations. Some post-Newtonian order being given, we must first compute the relevant relativistic
corrections to the pseudo stress-energy-tensor
(this necessitates solving the field equations inside the
matter) before inserting them into the source moments (80
, 81
, 82
, 83
, 88
, 84
, 85
, 86
, 87
). The formula (88
)
is used to express all the terms up to that post-Newtonian order by means of more tractable integrals
extending over
. Given a specific model for the matter source we then have to find a way to compute
all these spatial integrals (we do it in Section 10 in the case of point-mass binaries). Next,
we must substitute the source multipole moments into the linearized metric (26
, 27
, 28
), and
iterate them until all the necessary multipole interactions taking place in the radiative moments
and
are under control. In fact, we shall work out these multipole interactions for
general sources in the next section up to the 3PN order. Only at this point does one have the
physical radiation field at infinity, from which we can build the templates for the detection and
analysis of gravitational waves. We advocate here that the complexity of the formalism reflects
simply the complexity of the Einstein field equations. It is probably impossible to devise a
different formalism, valid for general sources devoid of symmetries, that would be substantially
simpler.
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