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Abstract

We use null hypersurface techniques in a new approach to calculate the retarded waveform from a binary black hole merger in the close approximation. The process of removing ingoing radiation from the system leads to two notable features in the shape of the close approximation waveform for a head-on collision of black holes: (i) an initial quasinormal ringup and (ii) weak sensitivity to the parameter controlling the collision velocity. Feature (ii) is unexpected and has the potential importance of enabling the design of an efficient template for extracting the gravitational wave signal from the noise.