Anisotropic gravitational radiation in the problems of three and four black holes

The momentum flux in merging binary black holes is rediscussed using the actual orbit integrations. The terminal velocity acquired by the centre of mass of the system is found to be greater than the estimate of Fitchett (1983) by a factor of 1.45. The actual value in km s−1 is still uncertain but may be as high as 2000 km s−1. The centre of mass velocity kick at a black hole merger is incorporated in the orbit integration of few black hole systems. Assuming that the symmetric break-up mode of such systems corresponds to the classical double radio sources, we determine that the centre of mass velocity kick can be about 1000 km s−1 at most.