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Black hole binary mergers: recent developments in numerical relativity First-term presentation By Nikos Fanidakis Supervisors: Carlton Baugh, Shaun Cole, Carlos Frenk 13/12/2007. Outline. Brief introduction to gravitational waves Black hole (BH) binary mergers in numerical relativity
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Black hole binary mergers: recent developments in numerical relativityFirst-term presentationBy Nikos FanidakisSupervisors: Carlton Baugh, Shaun Cole, Carlos Frenk13/12/2007
Outline • Brief introduction to gravitational waves • Black hole (BH) binary mergers in numerical relativity • Astrophysical implications: recoil kicks • Discussion – conclusions
Merging binary NSs and BHs in distant galaxies Capture of BHs and compact stars by SMBH Merging super-massive black holes (SMBHs) at galactic cores NS quakes and magnetars Quantum Fluctuations in the Early Universe Gravitational wave radiation • Gravitational Waves: ripples of space-time curvature propagating at the speed of light. • Gravitational wave sources: any source with nonzero quadrupole moment. Amplitude h ≈ (GM/Rc2)(R/D) =10-23-10-21
BH mergers in numerical relativity: 1964-2005 • BHs are strong sources of gravitational waves! • A merge of two equal mass BHs releases ~1056 ergs/s • Accurate gravitational waveforms are essential for LISA • First attempt by Hahn – Lindquist (1964): inspiral (!) → merger(??) → ringdown (!) ? Image courtesy: Kip Thorne
BH mergers in numerical relativity: 2005-2007 • 1. The technique: • “3+1” decomposition 3-d hypersurfaces. • Evolution of hypersurface through time using 17 nonlinear, coupled differential eqns! • 2. The breakthrough (Baker et al. 2006): • Fixed “puncture” representation of the BH • Comoving coordinates merger ringdown inspiral amplitude time Baker et al. 2006
Astrophysical implications: recoil kicks • Asymmetric BH mergers impart a recoil kick to the final remnant (ejection from host structure?) • Unequal-mass BH merger simulation (Gonzalez et al. 2007): • Initial binary: m1=0.36m2 • ukick~176 km/s • Highly-spinning BH merger simulation (Herrmann et. 2007): • Initial binary: equal-mass BHs with anti-aligned equal spins • ukick =475 km/s • M-σrelation constraint≈ 500km/s • If spin not perpendicular to orbital plane ukick up to 2000 km/s (Campanelli et al. 2007) Centrella et al. 2007
Discussion – conclusions known