Eccentric binary black-hole mergers: The transition from inspiral to plunge in general relativity

We study the transition from inspiral to plunge in general relativity by computing gravitational waveforms of nonspinning, equal-mass black-hole binaries. We consider three sequences of simulations, starting with a quasicircular inspiral completing 1.5, 2.3 and 9.6 orbits, respectively, prior to coalescence of the holes. For each sequence, the binding energy of the system is kept constant and the orbital angular momentum is progressively reduced, producing orbits of increasing eccentricity and eventually a head-on collision. We analyze in detail the radiation of energy and angular momentum in gravitational waves, the contribution of different multipolar components and the final spin of the remnant, comparing numerical predictions with the post-Newtonian approximation and with extrapolations of point-particle results. We find that the motion transitions from inspiral to plunge when the orbital angular momentum L=L{sub crit}{approx_equal}0.8M{sup 2}. For L