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We present a highly accurate, fully analytical model for the late inspiral, merger, and ringdown of black-hole binaries with arbitrary mass ratios and spin vectors, including the contributions of harmonics beyond the fundamental mode. This…
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,…
We describe early success in the evolution of binary black hole spacetimes with a numerical code based on a generalization of harmonic coordinates. Indications are that with sufficient resolution this scheme is capable of evolving binary…
The last evolutionary stages of massive black hole binaries prior to coalescence is dominated by the emission of gravitational waves, which will be probed by the future Laser Interferometer Space Antenna. If gas is present around the two…
We present the first results for Cauchy nonlinear evolution of 3D, nonaxisymmetric distorted black holes. We focus on the extraction and verification of 3D waveforms determined by numerical relativity. We show that the black hole evolution…
This paper reviews the basic features of the theory of curvature perturbations in Kerr spacetime, which is customarily written in terms of gauge invariant components of the Weyl tensor which satisfy a perturbation equation known as the…
We perform a statistical analysis of the binary black hole problem in the post-Newtonian approximation by systematically sampling and evolving the parameter space of initial configurations for quasi-circular inspirals. Through a principal…
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 study of the interaction of a massive black hole binary with its gaseous environment is crucial in order to be able to predict merger rates and possible electromagnetic counterparts of gravitational wave signals. The evolution of the…
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…
A numerical solution scheme for the Einstein field equations based on generalized harmonic coordinates is described, focusing on details not provided before in the literature and that are of particular relevance to the binary black hole…
We present a semi-analytical binary black hole (BBH) metric approximation that models the entire evolution of the system from inspiral to merger. The metric is constructed as a boosted Kerr-Schild superposition following post-Newtonian (PN)…
Understanding the fate of merging supermassive black holes in galactic mergers, and the gravitational wave emission from this process, are important LISA science goals. To this end, we present results from numerical relativity simulations…
In this exploratory study, we demonstrate the capability of the numerical-relativity code BAM to simulate fully relativistic black-hole binary-single and binary-binary encounters. While previous work has demonstrated the general capability…
We present approximate analytical solutions to the Hamiltonian and momentum constraint equations, corresponding to systems composed of two black holes with arbitrary linear and angular momentum. The analytical nature of these initial data…
We study the orbital evolution of a radiation-damped binary in the extreme mass ratio limit, and the resulting waveforms, to one order beyond what can be obtained using the conservation laws approach. The equations of motion are solved…
Recent measurements of gravitational-wave ringdown following the merger of binary black holes raise the prospect of precision black hole spectroscopy in the near future. To perform the most sensitive tests of the nature of black holes using…
In numerical evolutions of binary black holes (BBH) it is desirable to easily control the orbital eccentricity of the BBH, and the number of orbits completed by the binary through merger. This paper presents fitting formulae that allow to…
Approximate solutions to the Einstein field equations are a valuable tool to investigate gravitational phenomena. An important aspect of any approximation is to investigate and quantify its regime of validity. We present a study that…
We consider the problem of evolving nonlinear initial data in the close limit regime. Metric and curvature perturbations of nonrotating black holes are equivalent to first perturbative order, but Moncrief waveform in the former case and…