Related papers: Parameter control for eccentric, precessing binary…
Accurate models of merger remnants are increasingly important for gravitational-wave science, including precision tests of gravity with ringdown, inference of black-hole populations, and modeling hierarchical mergers. For eccentric…
Orbital eccentricity in compact binaries is considered to be a key tracer of their astrophysical origin, and can be inferred from gravitational-wave observations due to its imprint on the emitted signal. For a robust measurement, accurate…
Standard choices of quasi-circular orbit parameters for black-hole binary evolutions result in eccentric inspiral. We introduce a conceptually simple method, which is to integrate the post-Newtonian equations of motion through hundreds of…
The study of unbound binary-black-hole encounters provides a gauge-invariant approach to exploring strong-field gravitational interactions in two-body systems, which can subsequently inform waveform models for bound orbits. In this work, we…
We present a major update to the Simulating eXtreme Spacetimes (SXS) Collaboration's catalog of binary black hole simulations. Using highly efficient spectral methods implemented in the Spectral Einstein Code (SpEC), we have nearly doubled…
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…
The modelling of unequal mass binary black hole systems is of high importance to detect and estimate parameters from these systems. Numerical relativity (NR) is well suited to study systems with comparable component masses, $m_1\sim m_2$,…
Binary black hole simulations starting from quasi-circular (i.e., zero radial velocity) initial data have orbits with small but non-zero orbital eccentricities. In this paper the quasi-equilibrium initial-data method is extended to allow…
We present a new iterative method to reduce eccentricity in black-hole-binary simulations. Given a good first estimate of low-eccentricity starting momenta, we evolve puncture initial data for ~4 orbits and construct improved initial…
The eccentricity of binary black-hole mergers is predicted to be an indicator of the history of their formation. In particular, eccentricity is a strong signature of dynamical formation rather than formation by stellar evolution in isolated…
The detection of gravitational-wave signals from coalescing eccentric binary black holes would yield unprecedented information about the formation and evolution of compact binaries in specific scenarios, such as dynamical formation in dense…
Astrophysically realistic black holes may have spins that are nearly extremal (i.e., close to 1 in dimensionless units). Numerical simulations of binary black holes are important tools both for calibrating analytical templates for…
Abstract abridged. Eclipsing binary systems provide the opportunity to measure the fundamental parameters of their component stars in a stellar-model-independent way. This makes them ideal candidates for testing and calibrating theories of…
Binary black holes are the most abundant source of gravitational-wave observations. Gravitational-wave observatories in the next decade will require tremendous increases in the accuracy of numerical waveforms modeling binary black holes,…
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 develop a method to compute low-eccentricity initial data of black hole--neutron star binaries in the puncture framework extending previous work on other types of compact binaries. In addition to adjusting the orbital angular velocity of…
The production of numerical relativity waveforms that describe quasicircular binary black hole mergers requires high-quality initial data, and an algorithm to iteratively reduce residual eccentricity. To date, these tools remain closed…
We introduce a method to quantify the initial eccentricity, gravitational wave frequency, and mean anomaly of numerical relativity simulations that describe non-spinning black holes on moderately eccentric orbits. We demonstrate that this…
While the majority of gravitational wave (GW) events observed by the LIGO and Virgo detectors are consistent with mergers of binary black holes (BBHs) on quasi-circular orbits, some events are also consistent with non-zero orbital…
Numerical relativity is an essential tool in studying the coalescence of binary black holes (BBHs). It is still computationally prohibitive to cover the BBH parameter space exhaustively, making phenomenological fitting formulas for BBH…