CRA Cosmic Coffee: Chris Evans

Title: Marginally Trapped Surfaces in Black Hole Mergers

Abstract: For numerical simulations of black hole mergers, typically the apparent horizon that forms is of primary interest and can be used to calculate the mass and angular momentum of the merger remnant. In a generic binary black hole evolution however, the apparent horizon is only one of four marginally outer trapped surfaces that exist at some point during the merger. In this talk I will present a brief overview of horizons in the context of numerical relativity and black hole mergers. I will also discuss the results of some new simulations we have completed to investigate the nature of these surfaces.