Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2002/iii/paper-44/4/a/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 iii Paper 44 4 a Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Work at in the region where the central black hole dominates the gravitational potential. Let be a star's specific angular momentum. Near its very small pericentre, the centrifugal term balances the deep gravitational potential. For an approximately parabolic passage with capture pericentre ,At radius , a velocity making angle with the inward radial direction has . Therefore the loss cone half-angle isTaking the characteristic speed to be the circular speed giveswith Newtonian circular-speed normalization . The inward cap occupies solid angle , or a fraction of an isotropic velocity sphere. Counting low-angular-momentum trajectories in both radial directions changes only an order-one factor; each such orbit is removed at its next pericentre.
The capture occurs in the strong-field region, so this Newtonian pericentre estimate is not an exact relativistic capture coefficient. The Schwarzschild capture calculation alters an order-one constant, while retaining the small-angle scaling for these characteristic Keplerian speeds.
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