Perturbative evolution of particle orbits around Kerr black holes: Time-domain calculation

We consider the problem of the gravitational waves produced by a particle of negligible mass orbiting a Kerr black hole. We treat the Teukolsky perturbation equation in the time domain numerically as a 2 + 1 partial differential equation. We model the particle by smearing the singularities in the source term by the use of narrow Gaussian distributions. We have been able to reproduce earlier results for equatorial circular orbits that were computed using the frequency-domain formalism. The time-domain approach is however geared for a more general evolution, for instance of nearly geodesic orbits under the effects of radiation reaction