Related papers: Orbiting binary black hole evolutions with a multi…
Theoretical models of the evolution of supermassive black hole (SMBH) pairs in post-merger remnant galaxies are necessary to motivate observational searches for dual active galactic nuclei (AGN) and gravitational wave sources. Studies have…
We present a major update to the Simulating eXtreme Spacetimes (SXS) Collaboration's catalog of binary black hole simulations. Using highly efficient spectral methods implemented in the Spectral Einstein Code (SpEC), we have nearly doubled…
In general relativity, when two black holes merge they produce a rotating (Kerr) black hole remnant. According to perturbation theory, the remnant emits "ringdown" radiation: a superposition of exponentials with characteristic complex…
In the last stages of a black hole merger, the binary can experience a recoil due to asymmetric emission of gravitational radiation. Recent numerical relativity simulations suggest that the recoil velocity can be as high as a few thousands…
The vast majority of massive binary systems in the universe is evidently unsuited to produce merging binary black holes. However, several narrow evolutionary paths of isolated massive binaries towards this goal have recently been…
We report on simulations in general relativity of magnetized disks onto black hole binaries. We vary the binary mass ratio from 1:1 to 1:10 and evolve the systems when they orbit near the binary-disk decoupling radius. We compare (surface)…
We perform a suite of high-resolution smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulations to investigate the orbital decay and mass evolution of massive black hole (MBH) pairs down to scales of ~30 pc during minor mergers of disk galaxies. Our…
It is well known that multigrid methods are optimally efficient for solution of elliptic equations (O(N)), which means that effort is proportional to the number of points at which the solution is evaluated). Thus this is an ideal method to…
We study the dynamics of a pair of extremal (half-BPS) black holes in $\mathcal{N}=8$ supergravity, as a potentially solvable model of gravitational dynamics. As a diagnosis of hidden symmetries, we ask whether the perihelion of the orbits…
Modeling the late inspiral and merger of supermassive black holes is central to understanding accretion processes and the conditions under which electromagnetic emission accompanies gravitational waves. We use fully general relativistic,…
The ``moving puncture'' technique has led to dramatic advancements in the numerical simulations of binary black holes. Hannam et.al. have recently demonstrated that, for suitable gauge conditions commonly employed in moving puncture…
Dark matter overdensities around black holes can alter the dynamical evolution of a companion object orbiting around it, and cause a dephasing of the gravitational waveform. Here, we present a refined calculation of the co-evolution of the…
We derive the mass function of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) over the redshift range 0<z<2, using the latest deep luminosity and mass functions of field galaxies. Applying this mass function, combined with the bolometric luminosity…
We demonstrate that numerical relativity codes based on the moving punctures formalism are capable of evolving nearly maximally spinning black hole binaries. We compare a new evolution of an equal-mass, aligned-spin binary with…
This thesis details an effort to generate astrophysically interesting solutions to the two-body problem in General Relativity. The thesis consists of two main parts. The first part presents an analytical variational principle for describing…
Using recent results from numerical relativity simulations of black hole mergers, we revisit previous studies of cosmological black hole spin evolution. We show that mergers are very unlikely to yield large spins, unless alignment of the…
We have developed a new numerical code to study the evolution of distorted, rotating black holes. We discuss the numerical methods and gauge conditions we developed to evolve such spacetimes. The code has been put through a series of tests,…
We explore a newly proposed channel to create binary black holes of stellar origin. This scenario applies to massive, tight binaries where mixing induced by rotation and tides transports the products of hydrogen burning throughout the…
We investigate the orbital eccentricity evolution of supermassive black hole binaries within galactic environments. We analyze the dynamics in triaxial merger remnants and subsequent interactions with geometrically thick nuclear discs. We…
Black holes found in binaries move at very high velocities relative to our own reference frame and can accelerate due to the emission of gravitational radiation. Here, we investigate the numerical stability and late-time behavior of linear…