Quadrupole strain scaling of a weak self-gravitating source ($E=O({ϵ}^{2}R/r),ϵ=GM/R$)

For a weakly self-gravitating bound source of size $R$, mass $M$ and nonspherical dynamical mass quadrupole moment $Q=O(M{R}^2)$, the virial theorem gives $v^2=O(GM/R)=O(ϵ)$. Its time scale is $R/v$, so $\ddot{Q}=O(M{v}^2)$. The far-zone quadrupole strain then has a spatial half-strain coefficient $E=O(GM{v}^2/r)=O({ϵ}^{2}R/r)$ in units $c=1$. The physical transverse-traceless strain is $2E^{\mathrm{TT}}$. Spherical or stationary sources can have zero radiation, so this is a characteristic scale for a changing nonspherical quadrupole, not a positive lower bound. The radiation zone also requires $r\gg R/v$.