Related papers: Targeted numerical simulations of binary black hol…
We present techniques for successfully performing numerical relativity simulations of binary black holes with fourth-order accuracy. Our simulations are based on a new coding framework which currently supports higher order finite…
Parameter estimates of GW150914 were obtained using Bayesian inference, based on three semi-analytic waveform models for binary black hole coalescences. These waveform models differ from each other in their treatment of black hole spins,…
This paper presents a parameter estimation analysis of the seven binary black hole mergers---GW170104, GW170608, GW170729, GW170809, GW170814, GW170818, and GW170823---detected during the second observing run of the Advanced LIGO and Virgo…
Activities in data analysis and numerical simulation of gravitational waves have to date largely proceeded independently. In this work we study how waveforms obtained from numerical simulations could be effectively used within the data…
We present and assess a Bayesian method to interpret gravitational wave signals from binary black holes. Our method directly compares gravitational wave data to numerical relativity simulations. This procedure bypasses approximations used…
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…
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…
The properties of precessing, coalescing binary black holes are presently inferred through comparison with two approximate models of compact binary coalescence. In this work we show these two models often disagree substantially when…
We characterize the expected statistical errors with which the parameters of black-hole binaries can be measured from gravitational-wave (GW) observations of their inspiral, merger and ringdown by a network of second-generation ground-based…
Gravitational wave signals from coalescing compact binaries in the LIGO and Virgo interferometers are primarily detected by the template based matched filtering method. While this method is optimal for stationary and Gaussian data…
Numerical relativity simulations provide a full description of the dynamics of binary systems, including gravitational radiation. The waveforms produced by these simulations have a number of applications in gravitational-wave detection and…
We compare GW150914 directly to simulations of coalescing binary black holes in full general relativity, accounting for all the spin-weighted quadrupolar modes, and separately accounting for all the quadrupolar and octopolar modes.…
In fall of 2015, the two LIGO detectors measured the gravitational wave signal GW150914, which originated from a pair of merging black holes. In the final 0.2 seconds (about 8 gravitational-wave cycles) before the amplitude reached its…
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…
LIGO and Virgo have recently observed a number of gravitational wave (GW) signals that are fully consistent with being emitted by binary black holes described by general relativity. However, there are theoretical proposals of exotic objects…
We present the results of 61 new simulations of nonprecessing spinning black hole binaries with mass ratios $q=m_1/m_2$ in the range $1/3\leq q\leq1$ and individual spins covering the parameter space $-0.85\leq\alpha_{1,2}\leq0.85$. We…
We present a systematic comparison of the binary black hole (BBH) signal waveform reconstructed by two independent and complementary approaches used in LIGO and Virgo source inference: a template-based analysis, and a morphology-independent…
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…
We present the results of 14 simulations of nonspinning black hole binaries with mass ratios $q=m_1/m_2$ in the range $1/100\leq q\leq1$. For each of these simulations we perform three runs at increasing resolution to assess the finite…
We construct approximate analytical solutions to the constraint equations of general relativity for binary black holes of arbitrary mass ratio in quasicircular orbit. We adopt the puncture method to solve the constraint equations in the…