Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2019 / iii / Paper 309 / 1

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.