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    Influence of the mean anomaly on the dynamical quantities of binary black hole mergers in eccentric orbits

    Hao Wang1,2,*, Bin Liu1,†, Yuan-Chuan Zou2,‡, and Qing-Wen Wu2,§

    • *Contact author: wanghao_zju@zju.edu.cn
    • †Contact author: liubin23@zju.edu.cn
    • ‡Contact author: zouyc@hust.edu.cn
    • §Contact author: qwwu@hust.edu.cn

    Phys. Rev. D 112, 084019 – Published 8 October, 2025

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/k88f-kn8v

    Abstract

    In studies of binary black hole (BBH) mergers in eccentric orbits, the mean anomaly, traditionally regarded as less significant than eccentricity, has been thought to encode only the orbital phase, leading to the assumption that it exerts minimal influence on the dynamics of eccentric mergers. In a previous investigation, we identified consistent oscillations in dynamical quantities peak luminosity Lpeak, remnant mass Mrem, spin αrem, and recoil velocity Vrem—in relation to the initial eccentricity e0. These oscillations are associated with integer orbital cycles within a phenomenological framework. In this paper, we aim to explore the underlying physical nature of these oscillations through gravitational waveforms. Our examination of remnant mass and spin reveals that, while the initial Arnowitt, Deser, Misner (ADM) mass MADM and orbital angular momentum L0 exhibit gradual variations with e0, the radiated energy Erad and angular momentum Lrad display oscillatory patterns akin to those observed in Mrem and αrem. By decomposing the waveforms into three distinct phases—inspiral, late inspiral to merger, and ringdown—we demonstrate that these oscillations persist across all phases, suggesting a common origin. Through a comparative analysis of Erad and Lrad derived from numerical relativity, post-Newtonian (PN) waveforms, and orbital-averaged PN fluxes during the inspiral phase, we identify the initial mean anomaly l0 as the source of the observed oscillations. This effect, which is averaged out in orbital-averaged flux calculations, significantly influences Mrem, αrem, and Vrem, with its impact increasing as e0 rises. Further, we find that by continuously varying l0 within the parameter space [0,2π], we can construct an envelope that encompasses the original oscillations of these radiative quantities, indicating that the oscillations originate from the specific initial condition l0. We synthesize and analyze the relationships between dynamical quantities and mass ratio for orbital BBH mergers, integrating data from both eccentric and circular orbits. Our findings emphasize that eccentricity and mean anomalies induce oscillations and ranges in dynamical quantities relative to circular orbits. We interpolate the maximum and minimum values of the dynamical quantities to delineate the vicinities of these quantities for eccentric orbits compared to circular orbits. Notably, the vicinities intensify with higher mass ratios (q=m1/m2≤1, m1, and m2 are component masses of the BBH) for Mrem, αrem, and Lpeak, reaching maximum effects for q≈1/3 on Vrem. By quantifying the residual deviations relative to circular orbits, we highlight significant differences between the vicinities and the polynomial modeling of circular orbits, underscoring the importance of this effect, which cannot be overlooked and has a broad impact.

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