Cross section, final spin and zoom-whirl behavior in high-energy black hole collisions
arXiv:0907.1252 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.103.131102
Abstract
We study the collision of two highly boosted equal mass, nonrotating black holes with generic impact parameter. We find such systems to exhibit zoom-whirl behavior when fine tuning the impact parameter. Near the threshold of immediate merger the remnant black hole Kerr parameter can be near maximal (a/M about 0.95) and the radiated energy can be as large as 35% of the center-of-mass energy.
Rearranged results section; accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Lett