Beyond the separatrix: Analytic continuation of Darwin variables for plunging geodesics in Schwarzschild spacetime

We study geodesic motion of a test particle in Schwarzschild spacetime. Bound and scattering geodesics are commonly described using Darwin variables, which provide a convenient parametrization of the radial motion. However, this description breaks down at the separatrix and does not extend straightforwardly to plunging trajectories. We construct an analytic continuation of Darwin variables that yields a real parametrization of bound, scattering, and plunging Schwarzschild geodesics, thereby providing a unified kinematical description of all types of test-mass motion. As a proof of concept, we then apply these variables to a simple non-geodesic evolution in which the energy and angular momentum are driven by a constant external force. This toy model is not intended to represent a physical radiation-reaction model, but rather to illustrate how the extended variables can be used to follow an orbit through a transition to plunge using a single orbital phase variable across the separatrix.