Resonant growth of stellar oscillations by incident gravitational waves

Abstract

Stellar oscillation under the combined influences of incident gravitational wave and radiation loss is studied in a simple toy model. The star is approximated as a uniform density ellipsoid in the Newtonian gravity including radiation damping through quadrupole formula. The time evolution of the oscillation is significantly controlled by the incident wave amplitude $h$, frequency $\nu$ and damping time $\tau$. If a combination $h\nu \tau$ exceeds a threshold value, which depends on the resonance mode, the resonant growth is realized.

11 pages, 6 figures, Accepted for the publication in Classical and Quantum Gravity