Related papers: Dynamical evolution of massive black holes in gala…
We describe efforts over the last six years to implement regularization methods suitable for studying one or more interacting black holes by direct N-body simulations. Three different methods have been adapted to large-N systems: (i)…
In this paper we report on recent upgrades to our general relativistic radiation magnetohydrodynamics code, Cosmos++, including the development of a new primitive inversion scheme and a hybrid implicit-explicit solver with a more general…
Population-synthesis codes are an unique tool to explore the parameter space of massive binary star evolution and binary compact object (BCO) formation. Most population-synthesis codes are based on the same stellar evolution model, limiting…
General relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations represent a fundamental tool to probe various underlying mechanisms at play during binary neutron star (BNS) and neutron star (NS) - black hole (BH) mergers. Contemporary…
This is the second in a series of papers describing a 3+1 computational scheme for the numerical simulation of dynamic black hole spacetimes. We discuss the numerical time-evolution of a given black-hole-containing initial data slice in…
We simulate mergers between galaxies containing collisionally-relaxed nuclei around massive black holes (MBHs). Our galaxies contain four mass groups, representative of old stellar populations; a primary goal is to understand the…
Neutron star $-$ black hole (NSBH) merger events bring us new opportunities to constrain theories of stellar and binary evolution, and understand the nature of compact objects. In this work, we investigate the formation of merging NSBH…
The LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) collaboration has detected over 150 confirmed gravitational wave events through O4a. Binary black hole (BBH) systems represent the overwhelming majority of these observations. We construct a model for the…
The accurate modelling of astrophysical scenarios involving compact objects and magnetic fields, such as the collapse of rotating magnetized stars to black holes or the phenomenology of gamma-ray bursts, requires the solution of the…
Solving the 4-d Einstein equations as evolution in time requires solving equations of two types: the four elliptic initial data (constraint) equations, followed by the six second order evolution equations. Analytically the constraint…
We report simulations of the inspiral and merger of binary neutron stars performed with \texttt{WhiskyTHC}, the first of a new generation of numerical relativity codes employing higher than second-order methods for both the spacetime and…
To fully unlock the scientific potential of upcoming gravitational wave (GW) interferometers, numerical relativity (NR) simulation accuracy will need to be greatly enhanced. We present three infrastructure-agnostic improvements to the…
We present the first study of the dynamical evolution of an isolated star cluster that combines a significant population of primordial binaries with the presence of a central black hole. We use equal-mass direct N-body simulations, with N…
Future gravitational wave observatories can probe dark matter by detecting the dephasing in the waveform of binary black hole mergers induced by dark matter overdensities. Such a detection hinges on the accurate modelling of the dynamical…
We study the formation of a supermassive black hole (SMBH) binary and the shrinking of the separation of the two holes to sub-pc scales starting from a realistic major merger between two gas-rich spiral galaxies with mass comparable to our…
We present preliminary results in our long-term project of studying the evolution of matter in a dynamical spacetime. To achieve this, we have developed a new code to evolve axisymmetric initial data sets corresponding to a black hole…
The most general bound binary black hole (BBH) system has an eccentric orbit and precessing spins. The detection of such a system with significant eccentricity close to the merger would be a clear signature of dynamical formation. In order…
We model the electromagnetic signatures of massive black hole binaries (MBHBs) with an associated gas component. The method comprises numerical simulations of relativistic binaries and gas coupled with calculations of the physical…
We study the implementation of mechanical feedback from supernovae (SNe) and stellar mass loss in galaxy simulations, within the Feedback In Realistic Environments (FIRE) project. We present the FIRE-2 algorithm for coupling mechanical…
There is compelling evidence that most -if not all- galaxies harbour a super-massive black hole (SMBH) at their nucleus, hence binaries of these massive objects are an inevitable product of the hierarchical evolution of structures in the…