Related papers: Optimizing post-Newtonian parameters and fixing th…
We make a comparison between results from numerically generated, quasi-equilibrium configurations of compact binary systems of black holes in close orbits, and results from the post-Newtonian approximation. The post-Newtonian results are…
As gravitational-wave (GW) observations of binary black holes are becoming a precision tool for physics and astronomy, several subdominant effects in the GW signals need to be accurately modeled. Previous studies have shown that neglecting…
Black holes (BHs) in an inspiraling compact binary system absorb the gravitational-wave (GW) energy and angular-momentum fluxes across their event horizons and this leads to the secular change in their masses and spins during the inspiral…
We study the convergence properties of our implementation of the 'moving punctures' approach at very high resolutions for an equal-mass, non-spinning, black-hole binary. We find convergence of the Hamiltonian constraint on the horizons and…
The measurement of black hole spin is considered one of the key problems in relativistic astrophysics. Existing methods, such as continuum fitting, X-ray reflection spectroscopy and quasi-periodic oscillation analysis, have systematic…
We report our new code (named SACRA) for numerical relativity simulations in which an adaptive mesh refinement algorithm is implemented. In this code, the Einstein equations are solved in the BSSN formalism with a fourth-order finite…
Effective-one-body (EOB) numerical-relativity (NR) waveform models for spin-aligned binary black holes (BBHs), known as the SEOBNR waveform models, are based on the EOB theoretical framework and NR simulations. SEOBNR models have played an…
Numerical relativity (NR) simulations of binary black hole (BBH) systems provide the most accurate gravitational wave predictions, but at a high computational cost -- especially when the black holes have nearly extremal spins (i.e. spins…
Numerical simulations of merging black hole binaries produce the most accurate gravitational waveforms. The availability of hundreds of these numerical relativity (NR) waveforms, often containing many higher spherical harmonic modes, allows…
The spins of binary black holes measured with gravitational waves provide insights about the formation, evolution, and dynamics of these systems. However, interpreting these measurements-especially for heavy black holes-remains an open…
The post-Newtonian formalism plays an integral role in the models used to extract information from gravitational wave data, but models that incorporate this formalism are inherently approximations. Disagreement between an approximate model…
Gravitational waves from the coalescence of two black holes carry the signature of the strong field dynamics of binary black holes. In this work we have used numerical relativity simulations and post-Newtonian theory to investigate this…
Numerical relativity simulations of merging black holes provide the most accurate description of the binary dynamics and the emitted gravitational wave signal. However, practical considerations such as imperfect initial data and initial…
We present simple procedures to construct quasi-circular initial data for numerical evolutions of binary black hole spacetimes. Our method consists of using Post-Newtonian theory in three ways: first to provide an initial guess for the…
Recent developments in post-Minkowksian (PM) calculations have led to a fast-growing body of weak-field perturbative information. As such, there is major interest within the gravitational wave community as to how this information can be…
Recent observations of compact binary systems have provided evidence for black holes with masses below standard expectations. When paired with neutron stars (NSs), such low-mass black holes (BHs) have the potential to be detected by future…
Past studies have empirically demonstrated a surprising agreement between gravitational waveforms computed using adiabatic-driven-inspiral point-particle black hole perturbation theory (ppBHPT) and numerical relativity (NR) following a…
We explicitly demonstrate that current numerical relativity techniques are able to accurately evolve black hole binaries with mass ratios of the order of 1000:1. This proof of principle is relevant for future third generation (3G)…
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 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…