Related papers: Numerical Relativity and Astrophysics
General Relativity is able to describe the dynamics of galaxies and larger cosmic structures only if most of the matter in the Universe is dark, namely it does not emit any electromagnetic radiation. Intriguingly, on the scale of galaxies,…
The radial collapse of a homogeneous disk of collisionless particles can be solved analytically in Newtonian gravitation. To solve the problem in general relativity, however, requires the full machinery of numerical relativity. The collapse…
The prime candidate of LIGO/VIRGO sources of gravitational waves is the spiral in of black holes and neutron stars in compact binaries. While the early stages of the evolution of compact binaries is computable from post-Newtonian…
Gravity is one of the fundamental forces of Nature, and it is the dominant force in most astronomical systems. In common with all other phenomena, gravity must obey the principles of special relativity. In particular, gravitational forces…
The extreme conditions found near black holes and neutron stars provide a unique opportunity for testing physical theories. Observations of both types of compact objects can be used to probe regions of strong gravity, allowing for tests of…
The past four years have seen a scientific revolution through the birth of a new field: gravitational-wave astronomy. The first detection of gravitational waves---recognised by the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics---provided unprecedented tests…
Gravitational wave detectors are formidable tools to explore strong-field gravity, especially black holes and neutron stars. These compact objects are extraordinarily efficient at producing electromagnetic and gravitational radiation. As…
General relativity explains gravitational radiation from binary black hole or neutron star mergers, from core-collapse supernovae and even from the inflation period in cosmology. These waves exhibit a unique effect called memory or…
Fundamental fields are a natural outcome in cosmology and particle physics and might therefore serve as a proxy for more complex interactions. The equivalence principle implies that all forms of matter gravitate, and one therefore expects…
Gravitational-wave data analysis requires a detailed understanding of the highly relativistic, late stages of inspiral of neutron-star and black-hole binaries. A promising method to compute the late inspiral and its emitted waves is…
Gravitational waves are ripples in spacetime generated by the acceleration of astrophysical objects. A direct consequence of general relativity, they were first directly observed in 2015 by the twin Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave…
Neutron star binaries and their associated gravitational wave signal facilitate precision tests of General Relativity. Any deviation of the detected gravitational waveform from General Relativity would therefore be a smoking gun signature…
This thesis focuses on the application of numerical relativity methods to the solutions of problems in strong gravity. Our goal is the study of mergers of compact objects in the strong field regime where non-linear dynamics manifest and…
We review the general relativistic theory of the motion, and of the timing, of binary systems containing compact objects (neutron stars or black holes). Then we indicate the various ways one can use binary pulsar data to test the…
The unification of gravity to the other forces has been a major problem for most of the last century. I use a modification to Newtonian gravitation to extract the strong and weak nuclear coupling constants. Some of the possible implications…
Recent gravitational wave observations include possible detections of black hole - neutron star binary mergers. As with binary black hole mergers, numerical simulations help characterize the sources. For binary systems with neutron star…
Exploring dark matter via observations of extreme astrophysical environments -- defined here as heavy compact objects such as white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes, as well as supernovae and compact object merger events -- has been a…
The main goal of numerical relativity is the long time simulation of highly nonlinear spacetimes that cannot be treated by perturbation theory. This involves analytic, computational and physical issues. At present, the major impasses to…
Black holes are popping up all over the place: in compact binary X-ray sources and GRBs, in quasars, AGNs and the cores of all bulge galaxies, in binary black holes and binary black hole-neutron stars, and maybe even in the LHC! Black holes…
Future GW detector networks and EM observatories will provide a unique opportunity to observe the most luminous events in the Universe involving matter in extreme environs. They will address some of the key questions in physics and…