Next-to-eikonal corrected double graviton dressing and gravitational wave observables at $$ \mathcal{O}\left({G}^2\right) $$

Abstract

Abstract Following a recent proposal to describe inelastic eikonal scattering processes in terms of gravitationally dressed elastic eikonal amplitudes, we motivate a collinear double graviton dressing and investigate its properties. This is derived from a generalized Wilson line operator in the worldline formalism by integrating over fluctuations of the eikonal trajectories of external particles in gravitationally interacting theories. The dressing can be expressed as a product of exponential terms — a coherent piece with contributions to all odd orders in the gravitational coupling constant and a term quadratic in graviton modes, with the former providing classical gravitational wave observables. In particular, the coherent dressing involves $$ \mathcal{O}\left({\kappa}^3\right) $$ O κ 3 subleading double graviton corrections to the Weinberg soft factor. We use this dressing to derive expressions for the waveform, radiative momentum spectrum and angular momentum. In a limiting case of the waveform, we derive the nonlinear memory effect resulting from the emission of nearly soft gravitons from a scattering process.