Related papers: Complete null data for a black hole collision
We discuss a sequence of numerically constructed geometries describing binary black hole event horizons -- providing the necessary input for characteristic evolution of the exterior spacetime. Our sequence approaches a single Schwarzschild…
We argue that the event horizon of a binary black hole merger, in the extreme-mass-ratio limit where one of the black holes is much smaller than the other, can be described in an exact analytic way. This is done by tracing in the…
The characteristic initial value problem has been implemented as a robust computational algorithm (the PITT NULL CODE), with direct application to binary black holes. The event horizon can be analyzed by characteristic techniques as a…
We describe the null geometry of a multiple black hole event horizon in terms of a conformal rescaling of a flat space null hypersurface. For the prolate spheroidal case, we show that the method reproduces the pair-of-pants shaped horizon…
We present a characteristic algorithm for computing the perturbations of a Schwarzschild spacetime by means of solving the Teukolsky equations. Our methods and results are expected to have direct bearing on the study of binary black holes…
We present an approximate metric for a binary black hole spacetime to construct initial data for numerical relativity. This metric is obtained by asymptotically matching a post-Newtonian metric for a binary system to a perturbed…
Event horizons are the defining physical features of black hole spacetimes, and are of considerable interest in studying black hole dynamics. Here, we reconsider three techniques to localise event horizons in numerical spacetimes:…
(Abridged) By asymptotically matching a post-Newtonian (PN) metric to two tidally perturbed Schwarzschild metrics, we generate approximate initial data (in the form of a 4-metric) for a nonspinning black hole binary in a circular orbit. We…
With Advanced LIGO detecting the gravitational waves emitted from a pair of merging black holes in late 2015, we have a new perspective into the strong field regime of binary black hole systems. Event horizons are the defining features of…
We study the geometry of the event horizon of a spacetime in which a small compact object plunges into a large Schwarzschild black hole. We first use the Regge-Wheeler and Zerilli formalisms to calculate the metric perturbations induced by…
We describe an explicit in time, finite-difference code designed to simulate black holes by using the excision method. The code is based upon the harmonic formulation of the Einstein equations and incorporates several features regarding the…
Isolated horizon conditions enforce the time invariance of both the intrinsic and the extrinsic geometry of a (quasilocal) black hole horizon. Nonexpanding horizons, only requiring the invariance of the intrinsic geometry, have been…
A description of the event horizon of a perturbed Schwarzschild black hole is provided in terms of the intrinsic and extrinsic geometries of the null hypersurface. This description relies on a Gauss-Codazzi theory of null hypersurfaces…
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…
This paper treats boundary conditions on black hole horizons for the full 3+1D Einstein equations. Following a number of authors, the apparent horizon is employed as the inner boundary on a space slice. It is emphasized that a further…
The understanding of strong-field dynamics near black-hole horizons is a long-standing and challenging prob- lem in general relativity. Recent advances in numerical relativity and in the geometric characterization of black- hole horizons…
We examine the structure of the event horizon for numerical simulations of two black holes that begin in a quasicircular orbit, inspiral, and finally merge. We find that the spatial cross section of the merged event horizon has spherical…
Choptuik's critical phenomena in general relativity is revisited in the affine-null metric formulation of Einstein's equations for a massless scalar field in spherical symmetry. Numerical solutions are obtained by evolution of initial data…
We present a new numerical code developed for the evolution of binary black-hole spacetimes using different initial data and evolution techniques. The code is demonstrated to produce state-of-the-art simulations of orbiting and inspiralling…
We present the first results in a new program intended to make the best use of all available technologies to provide an effective understanding of waves from inspiralling black hole binaries in time for imminent observations. In particular,…