  Binary black hole spacetimes with a helical Killing vector, which are
discussed as an approximation for the early stage of a binary system, are
studied in a projection formalism. In this setting the four dimensional
Einstein equations are equivalent to a three dimensional gravitational theory
with a $SL(2,\mathbb{C})/SO(1,1)$ sigma model as the material source. The sigma
model is determined by a complex Ernst equation. 2+1 decompositions of the
3-metric are used to establish the field equations on the orbit space of the
Killing vector. The two Killing horizons of spherical topology which
characterize the black holes, the cylinder of light where the Killing vector
changes from timelike to spacelike, and infinity are singular points of the
equations. The horizon and the light cylinder are shown to be regular
singularities, i.e. the metric functions can be expanded in a formal power
series in the vicinity. The behavior of the metric at spatial infinity is
studied in terms of formal series solutions to the linearized Einstein
equations. It is shown that the spacetime is not asymptotically flat in the
strong sense to have a smooth null infinity under the assumption that the
metric tends asymptotically to the Minkowski metric. In this case the metric
functions have an oscillatory behavior in the radial coordinate in a
non-axisymmetric setting, the asymptotic multipoles are not defined. The
asymptotic behavior of the Weyl tensor near infinity shows that there is no
smooth null infinity.
