Related papers: Binary-black-hole initial data with nearly-extrema…
The spin properties of merging black holes observed with gravitational waves can offer novel information about the origin of these systems. The magnitude and orientations of black hole spins offer a record of binaries' evolutionary history,…
Standard choices of quasi-circular orbit parameters for black-hole binary evolutions result in eccentric inspiral. We introduce a conceptually simple method, which is to integrate the post-Newtonian equations of motion through hundreds of…
We perform the first fully nonlinear numerical simulations of black-hole binaries with mass ratios 100:1. Our technique for evolving such extreme mass ratios is based on the moving puncture approach with a new gauge condition and an optimal…
By applying a parabolic-hyperbolic formulation of the constraints and superposing Kerr-Schild black holes, a simple method is introduced to initialize time evolution of binary systems. As the input parameters are essentially the same as…
We calculate puncture initial data corresponding to both single and binary black hole solutions of the constraint equations by means of a pseudo-spectral method applied in a single spatial domain. Introducing appropriate coordinates, these…
We construct new models of black hole-neutron star binaries in quasiequilibrium circular orbits by solving Einstein's constraint equations in the conformal thin-sandwich decomposition together with the relativistic equations of…
Building initial conditions for generic binary black-hole evolutions without initial spurious eccentricity remains a challenge for numerical-relativity simulations. This problem can be overcome by applying an eccentricity-removal procedure…
In a recent paper arXiv:0709.0299, we introduced a spin expansion that provides a simple yet powerful way to understand aspects of binary black hole (BBH) merger. This approach relies on the symmetry properties of initial and final…
Generalizing previous work we propose how to superpose spinning black holes in a Kerr-Schild initial slice. This superposition satisfies several physically meaningful limits, including the close and the far ones. Further we consider the…
Black holes described by the Kerr metric can have a theoretical maximum dimensionless spin parameter of $a_\bullet = 1$, but several effects may limit the maximum spin parameter in astrophysical systems. We perform general relativistic…
Black hole-neutron star (BHNS) binaries are important sources of gravitational waves for second-generation interferometers, and BHNS mergers are also a proposed engine for short, hard gamma-ray bursts. The behavior of both the spacetime…
While supermassive binary black holes inspiral toward merger they may also experience significant accretion of matter from a surrounding disk. We study the dynamics of this system, simultaneously describing the evolving spacetime and…
An approximate solution to Einstein's equations representing two widely-separated non-rotating black holes in a circular orbit is constructed by matching a post-Newtonian metric to two perturbed Schwarzschild metrics. The spacetime metric…
A general relativistic, stationary and axisymmetric black hole in a four-dimensional asymptotically-flat spacetime is fully determined by its mass, angular momentum and electric charge. The expectation that astrophysically relevant black…
Black-hole binary spin precession admits equilibrium solutions corresponding to systems with (anti-) aligned spins. Among these, binaries in the up-down configuration, where the spin of the heavier (lighter) black hole is co- (counter-)…
In General Relativity, the spacetimes of black holes have three fundamental properties: (i) they are the same, to lowest order in spin, as the metrics of stellar objects; (ii) they are independent of mass, when expressed in geometric units;…
Orbital eccentricity and spin precession are precious observables to infer the formation history of binary black holes with gravitational-wave data. We present a post-Newtonian, multi-timescale analysis of the binary dynamics able to…
We briefly discuss a method to construct a global, analytic, approximate spacetime for precessing, spinning binary black holes. The spacetime construction is broken into three parts: the inner zones are the spacetimes close to each black…
Attempts to understand the formation of binary black hole (BBH) systems detected via gravitational wave (GW) emission are affected by many unknowns and uncertainties, from both the observational and theoretical (astrophysical modelling)…
At the beginning of binary black hole simulations, there is a pulse of spurious radiation (or junk radiation) resulting from the initial data not matching astrophysical quasi-equilibrium inspiral exactly. One traditionally waits for the…