Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-astrophysics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2018/3/c/solution
Past exam of the astrophysics course of the University of Oxford 2018 3 c Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
Keep both component masses constant during a circular, gravitational-radiation-driven inspiral. Since , differentiation gives . Combining this with the supplied angular-momentum loss yieldsThe expression printed in the source is negative during inspiral. A positive characteristic shrinking timescale isThe actual remaining coalescence time follows by integrating :This constant factor does not change the requested separation scaling.
For an old, approximately coeval population, let over the relevant separation interval, and write the positive delay as . Conservation of event counts under this change of variable givesThereforeThe scaling applies between the minimum and maximum delays of the assumed separation distribution. It is a rate per delay interval, not the number per logarithmic delay interval.
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