Static axisymmetric approach for the head-on collision of two black holes

Abstract
This paper presents a semianalytical approach to the interaction of two (originally) spherically symmetric black holes through a head-on collision process. It is shown that an expression for the rate of emission of gravitational radiation can be derived from the so-called Weyl potential. The total output of gravitational wave energy released is then calculated and the results are compared to recent numerical investigations of this problem.