Related papers: Toward a dynamical shift condition for unequal mas…
Many of the recent numerical simulations of binary black holes in vacuum adopt the moving puncture approach. This successful approach avoids the need to impose numerical excision of the black hole interior and is easy to implement. Here we…
The close limit approximation of binary black hole is a powerful method to study gravitational-wave emission from highly non-linear geometries. In this work, we use it as a tool to model black hole spacetimes in theories of gravity with a…
It has only recently become possible to simulate the full nonlinear dynamics of binary black holes in scalar-Gauss-Bonnet theories of gravity. The simulations remain technically challenging and evolutions of unequal mass binaries in…
The quasi-stationary method for black hole binary inspiral is an approximation for studying strong field effects while suppressing radiation reaction. In this paper we use a nonlinear scalar field toy model (i) to explain the underlying…
High-accuracy binary black hole simulations are presented for black holes with spins anti-aligned with the orbital angular momentum. The particular case studied represents an equal-mass binary with spins of equal magnitude S/m^2=0.43757 \pm…
We present results from a new code for binary black hole evolutions using the moving-puncture approach, implementing finite differences in generalised coordinates, and allowing the spacetime to be covered with multiple communicating…
We describe early success in the evolution of binary black hole spacetimes with a numerical code based on a generalization of harmonic coordinates. Indications are that with sufficient resolution this scheme is capable of evolving binary…
The localization of stellar-mass binary black hole mergers using gravitational waves is critical in understanding the properties of the binaries' host galaxies, observing possible electromagnetic emission from the mergers, or using them as…
Approximate solutions to the Einstein field equations are a valuable tool to investigate gravitational phenomena. An important aspect of any approximation is to investigate and quantify its regime of validity. We present a study that…
Modelling the gravitational wave signal from binaries beyond comparable mass is an important open issue in gravitational wave astronomy. For non-spinning binaries and when the spins are aligned with the orbital angular momentum, some first…
We present a new algorithm for evolving orbiting black-hole binaries that does not require excision or a corotating shift. Our algorithm is based on a novel technique to handle the singular puncture conformal factor. This system, based on…
We study the spin dynamics of individual black holes in a binary system. In particular we focus on the polar precession of spins and the possibility of a complete flip of spins with respect to the orbital plane. We perform a full numerical…
Using the Reduced Basis approach, we efficiently compress and accurately represent the space of waveforms for non-precessing binary black hole inspirals, which constitutes a four dimensional parameter space (two masses, two spin…
Scalar fields of masses between $10^{-21}\rm{eV}/c^2$ and $10^{-11} \rm{eV}/c^2$ can exhibit enhanced gravitational interactions with black holes, and form scalar clouds around them. Such a cloud modifies the dynamics of a coalescing…
A numerical solution scheme for the Einstein field equations based on generalized harmonic coordinates is described, focusing on details not provided before in the literature and that are of particular relevance to the binary black hole…
Stationary axisymmetric binary configurations of unequal Kerr sources with a massless strut among them are developed in a physical representation. In order to describe interacting black holes, the axis conditions in the most general case…
Binary black hole simulations with black hole excision using spectral methods require a coordinate transformation into a co-rotating coordinate system where the black holes are essentially at rest. This paper presents and discusses two…
Binary black holes with spins that are aligned with the orbital angular momentum do not precess. However, post-Newtonian calculations predict that "up-down" binaries, in which the spin of the heavier (lighter) black hole is aligned…
We describe some key astrophysical processes driving the formation and evolution of black hole binaries of different nature, from stellar-mass to supermassive systems. In the first part, we focus on the mainstream channels proposed for the…
Recent astrophysical models predict that stellar-mass binary black holes (BBHs) could form and coalesce within a few gravitational radii of a supermassive black hole (SMBH). Detecting the gravitational waves (GWs) from such systems requires…