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The quadratic gravitational effective stress-energy tensor depends on the split between the fixed background and the metric perturbation. A residual gauge symmetry of linearized gravity changes $h$ without changing the first-order tidal field, but generally changes $G^{(2)}[h,h]$ and hence the local value of $t$. At second order the compensating change of $j$ restores the same physical geometry; assigning only the quadratic term to an energy density loses this compensation.

Moreover, a stress-energy superpotential can change the local energy expression while preserving its divergence and, with suitable boundary behavior, its integrated charges. Symmetry and flat conservation do not make $t$ a unique, gauge-independent local gravitational energy density. Averaging in an appropriate short-wavelength regime can lead to a useful physical gravitational-wave energy flux, but that is a qualified approximation, not a cure for the local definition requested here.

Remove the constant trace from the second mass moment tensor to obtain the mass quadrupole moment $Q_{ij}=I_{ij}-{\delta }_{ij}{I}_{kk}/3$. Since $I_{kk}$ is constant, ${\stackrel{...}{Q}}_{ij}={\stackrel{...}{I}}_{ij}$. In units $G=c=1$, the quadrupole formula givesIts normalization can also be seen from the gravitational-wave energy flux: $h_{ij}^{\mathrm{TT}}=2{\Lambda }_{ij,kl}{\ddot{Q}}_{kl}/r$, where $\Lambda$ is the transverse-traceless projector. With $S_{ij}={\stackrel{...}{Q}}_{ij}$ and $P_{ij}={\delta }_{ij}-n_i{n}_j$, the projection is $S_{ij}^{\mathrm{TT}}=P_{ik}{P}_{jl}{S}_{kl}-P_{ij}{P}_{kl}{S}_{kl}/2$. For a symmetric trace-free $S$,The isotropic tensor integrals $\int n_i{n}_{j}d\Omega =4\pi {\delta }_{ij}/3$ and $\int n_i{n}_j{n}_k{n}_{l}d\Omega =4\pi ({\delta }_{ij}{\delta }_{kl}+{\delta }_{ik}{\delta }_{jl}+{\delta }_{il}{\delta }_{jk})/15$ therefore give $\int |S^{\mathrm{TT}}{|}^{2}d\Omega =8\pi S_{ij}{S}_{ij}/5$. Integrating the flux yields $⟨P⟩=(8\pi {)}^{-1}\int ⟨|S^{\mathrm{TT}}{|}^2⟩d\Omega =⟨S_{ij}{S}_{ij}⟩/5$, as above.

Now differentiate the components from part (i). With $\Delta =I_1-I_2$,The off-diagonal component occurs twice in the contraction. ThusIt is already time independent, so averaging givesThis is the leading gravitational radiation from a rotating triaxial body; restoring units multiplies it by $G/c^5$. The source is treated as rotating uniformly over an averaging interval, with radiation reaction negligible at this order.

The outgoing solution obtained from the retarded fundamental solution of the wave equation isIn the radiation zone, put $r=|\mathbf{x}|$, $\mathbf{n}=\mathbf{x}/r$, and retain the leading $1/r$ term at retarded time $u=t-r$. The trace term disappears after applying the transverse-traceless projectorsoTwice using stress-energy conservation, ${\partial }_a{T}^{ab}=0$, and integrating by parts givesThe projector removes the trace, so in terms of the mass quadrupole momentthe far field isThe gravitational-wave energy flux isFor a trace-free symmetric tensor $A_{ij}$, the isotropic tensor integral over the observation direction givesConsequently the standard quadrupole formula, in the units $G=c=1$ used by the paper, isThus the printed coefficient $4\pi /5$ is inconsistent with the stated definition of $Q_{ij}$ and the standard wave-energy normalization; it appears to be a typographical error.

For the planet, choose its circular orbit in the $xy$-plane and write $\omega =2\pi /\tau$. With the star treated as fixed,and henceDirect differentiation givessoRestoring units multiplies this by $G/c^5$. If the printed $4\pi /5$ coefficient is followed literally, the answer is instead $4\pi$ times larger,For two bodies of comparable mass, $M$ is replaced by the reduced mass and $R$ by their separation.