Related papers: Filling the holes: Evolving excised binary black h…
The conformally flat families of initial data typically used in numerical relativity to represent boosted black holes are not those of a boosted slice of the Schwarzschild spacetime. If such data are used for each black hole in a collision,…
To describe a general bound binary black hole system, we need to consider orbital eccentricity and the misalignment of black holes' spin vectors with respect to the orbital angular momentum. While binary black holes produced through many…
We present a new class of 3D black hole initial data sets for numerical relativity. These data sets go beyond the axisymmetric, ``gravity wave plus rotating black hole'' single black hole data sets by creating a dynamic, distorted hole with…
Motivated by a geometric understanding of the angular velocity of a Kerr black hole in terms of a quasi-conformal map that describes a 2d Beltrami fluid flow, a new way to construct initial data sets for binary rotating black holes by…
We present a formalism for constructing quasi-equilibrium binary black hole initial data suitable for numerical evolution. We construct quasi-equilibrium models by imposing an approximate helical Killing symmetry appropriate for…
Dynamical black holes in the non-perturbative regime are not mathematically well understood. Studying approximate symmetries of spacetimes describing dynamical black holes gives an insight into their structure. Utilising the property that…
We consider the numerical evolution of black hole initial data sets, consisting of single black holes distorted by strong gravitational waves, with a full 3D, nonlinear evolution code. These data sets mimic the late stages of coalescing…
The standard approach to initial data for both analytic and numerical computations of black hole collisions has been to use conformally-flat initial geometry. Among other advantages, this choice allows the simple superposition of holes with…
In this thesis we present partial progress towards the dynamic formation of black holes in the four-dimensional Einstein vacuum equations from Christodoulou's short-pulse ansatz. We identify natural scaling in a putative solution metric and…
As 2 black holes bound to each other in a close binary approach merger their inspiral time becomes shorter than the characteristic inflow time of surrounding orbiting matter. Using an innovative technique in which we represent the changing…
Binary boson stars can be used to model the nonlinear dynamics and gravitational wave signals of merging ultracompact, but horizonless, objects. However, doing so requires initial data satisfying the Hamiltonian and momentum constraints of…
Black hole binaries on non-eccentric orbits form an important subclass of gravitational wave sources, but it is a non-trivial issue to construct numerical initial data with minimal initial eccentricity for numerical simulations. We compute…
In the context of metric perturbation theory for non-spinning black holes, extreme mass ratio binary (EMRB) systems are described by distributionally forced master wave equations. Numerical solution of a master wave equation as an initial…
We integrate the third and a half post-Newtonian equations of motion for a fully generic binary black hole system, allowing both for non-circular orbits, and for one or both of the black holes to spin, in any orientation. Using the second…
We find strong numerical evidence for a new phenomenon in a binary black hole spacetime, namely the merger of marginally outer trapped surfaces (MOTSs). By simulating the head-on collision of two non-spinning unequal mass black holes, we…
The construction of initial-data sets representing binary black-hole configurations in quasi-circular orbits is studied in the context of the conformal-imaging formalism. An effective-potential approach for locating quasi-circular orbits is…
We explore whether a new method to solve the constraints of Einstein's equations, which does not involve elliptic equations, can be applied to provide initial data for black holes. We show that this method can be successfully applied to a…
We extend previous work on 3D black hole excision to the case of distorted black holes, with a variety of dynamic gauge conditions that are able to respond naturally to the spacetime dynamics. We show that the combination of excision and…
I construct initial data for equal-mass irrotational binary black holes using the conformal thin-sandwich puncture (CTSP) approach. I locate quasi-circular orbits using the effective-potential method, and estimate the location of the…
We consider a series of distorted black hole initial data sets, and develop techniques to evolve them using the linearized equations of motion for the gravitational wave perturbations on a Schwarzschild background. We apply this to 2D and…