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CRA Cosmic Coffee: Jordi Manyer
March 6, 2019 @ 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Title: Design of an Expanding Cosmological Background for the Moving Punctures approach to Numerical Relativity
Abstract: Predicted in 1916 by Albert Einstein in his theory of general relativity, gravitational waves are now at the heart of modern astrophysics. Created in some of the most energetic events in the universe, such as binary black hole collisions, neutron star collisions or the big bang, this ripples of space time offer a completely new spectrum for the study of the universe, possibly allowing scientists to get an insight on previously unseen phenomena. In this context, numerical relativity becomes important as a tool to simulate these high-energy systems and calculate the resulting gravitational waves. As we wait for the new generation of laser interferometers, the field has to find ways to keep up with the increasing demand in accuracy. It is therefore important to study and tackle all the possible sources of error that the simulations might have. One of the simplifications numeral relativity codes usually do is to consider the supermassive bodies isolated in an otherwise massless non-expanding universe (a Minkowski background). Although it is a fairly good approximation, it is still physically inaccurate and a potential source of error. This work aims to start exploring the possibility of new cosmological backgrounds for black hole simulations. Specifically, we consider a particular metric, the Friedmnn-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker cosmology, and provide a full guided development on how to adapt a state-of-the-art numerical relativity code, the Einstein Toolkit, to use that metric as a background for black hole simulations. We then proceed to show results from simulations we performed using that specific theoretical development.