On finding fields and self-force in a gauge appropriate to separable wave equations

Gravitational waves from the inspiral of a stellar-size black hole to a supermassive black hole can be accurately approximated by a point particle moving in a Kerr background. We report progress on finding the renormalized self-force from the Teukolsky equation. The method is related to the MiSaTaQuWa renormalization and to the Detweiler-Whiting construction of the singular field. It relies on the fact that the renormalized $\psi_0$ (or $\psi_4$) is a {\em sourcefree} solution to the Teukolsky equation; and, following Chrzanowski, Cohen and Kegeles, one can therefore reconstruct a nonsingular renormalized metric in a radiation gauge. \newline \newline References: \newline [1] T. S. Keidl, J.~L.~Friedman, and A.~G.~Wiseman, Phys. Rev. D., in press; gr-qc/0611072. \newline [2] Y.\ Mino, M.\ Sasaki, and T.\ Tanaka, Phys. Rev. D {\bf 55}, 3457 (1997); T.\ C.\ Quinn and R.\ M.\ Wald, Phys. Rev. D {\bf 56}, 3381 (1997); S.\ Detweiler and B.\ F.Whiting, Phys. Rev. D {\bf 67}, 024025 (2003).