Mapping the asymptotic inspiral of precessing binary black holes to their merger remnants

Understand

Multiple approaches are required to study the evolution of black-hole binaries.

• While the post-Newtonian approximation is sufficient to describe the early inspiral (even from infinitely large orbital separation), only numerical relativity can capture the full complexity of the dynamics near merger.
• We combine multi-timescale post-Newtonian integrations with numerical-relativity surrogate models, thus mapping the entire history of the binary from its asymptotic configuration at past-time infinity to the post-merger remnant.
• This approach naturally allows us to assess the impact of the precessional and orbital phase on the properties - mass, spin, and kick - of the merger remnant.