The effective one-body or EOB approach is an analytical approach to the gravitational

two-body problem In classical mechanics, the two-body problem is to predict the motion of two massive objects which are abstractly viewed as point particles. The problem assumes that the two objects interact only with one another; the only force affecting each ...

general relativity General relativity, also known as the general theory of relativity and Einstein's theory of gravity, is the geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1915 and is the current description of gravitation in modern physics ...

. It was introduced by

Alessandra Buonanno Alessandra Buonanno is an Italian naturalized-American theoretical physicist and director at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute) in Potsdam. She is the head of the "Astrophysical and Cosmological Rela ...

and

Thibault Damour Thibault Damour (; born 7 February 1951) is a French physicist. He was a permanent professor in theoretical physics at the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques (IHÉS) from 1989 to 2022. Since then, he is professor emeritus. An expert in g ...

in 1999. It aims to describe all different phases of the two-body dynamics in a single analytical method. Classical gravity theory allows analytical calculations to be made in particular limits, such as post-Newtonian theory in the early inspiral, when the objects are at large separation, or black hole perturbation theory, when the two objects differ greatly in mass. In addition, they lead to results faster than

numerical relativity Numerical relativity is one of the branches of general relativity that uses numerical methods and algorithms to solve and analyze problems. To this end, supercomputers are often employed to study black holes, gravitational waves, neutron stars and ...

. Rather than being considered distinct from these independent approaches to the two-body problem, the EOB approach is a way to resum information from other independent methods. It does so by mapping the general two-body problem to that of a test particle in an effective

metric Metric or metrical may refer to: * Metric system, an internationally adopted decimal system of measurement * An adjective indicating relation to measurement in general, or a noun describing a specific type of measurement Mathematics In mathem ...

. The EOB approach was used in the data analysis of gravitational wave detectors such as

LIGO The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) is a large-scale physics experiment and observatory designed to detect cosmic gravitational waves and to develop gravitational-wave observations as an astronomical tool. Two large ...

and

Virgo Virgo may refer to: *Virgo (astrology), the sixth astrological sign of the zodiac *Virgo (constellation), a constellation *Virgo Cluster, a cluster of galaxies in the constellation Virgo *Virgo Stellar Stream, remains of a dwarf galaxy *Virgo Supe ...

References

General relativity Gravitational-wave astronomy {{relativity-stub