Testing Binary Black Hole Codes in Strong Field Regimes
Open Access
Author:
Garrison, David
Graduate Program:
Physics
Degree:
Doctor of Philosophy
Document Type:
Dissertation
Date of Defense:
June 20, 2002
Committee Members:
Pablo Laguna, Committee Chair/Co-Chair Steinn Sigurdsson, Committee Member Jorge Pullin, Committee Chair/Co-Chair Abhay Vasant Ashtekar, Committee Member
Keywords:
numerical relativity cosmology black holes partial differential equations gravity
Abstract:
In order to further our understanding of the instabilities which develop in numerical relativity codes, I study vacuum solutions of the cosmological type (T^3 topology). Specically, I focus on the 3+1 ADM formulation of Einstein's equations. This involves testing the numerical code using the following non-trivial periodic solutions, Kasner, Gowdy, Bondi and non-linear gauge waves. I look for constraint violating and gauge mode instabilities as well as numerical effects such as convergence, dissipation and dispersion. I will discuss techniques developed to investigate the stability properties of the numerical code.
