Lorentz-covariant perturbation theory for relativistic gravitational bremsstrahlung (1012.3060v1)

Abstract: We formulate Lorentz-covariant classical perturbation theory to deal with relativistic bremsstrahlung under gravitational scattering. Our approach is a version of the fast motion approximation scheme, the main novelty being the use of the momentum space representation. Using it we calculate in a closed form the spectrum of scalar, electromagnetic and gravitational radiation. Our results for the total emitted energy agree with those by Thorne and Kovacs. We also explain why the method of equivalent gravitons fails to produce the correct result for the spectral-angular distribution of emitted radiation under gravitational scattering, contrary to the case of Weizs\"acker-Williams approximation in quantum electrodynamics.