107,477 research outputs found
Characteristic Evolution and Matching
I review the development of numerical evolution codes for general relativity
based upon the characteristic initial value problem. Progress in characteristic
evolution is traced from the early stage of 1D feasibility studies to 2D
axisymmetric codes that accurately simulate the oscillations and gravitational
collapse of relativistic stars and to current 3D codes that provide pieces of a
binary black hole spacetime. Cauchy codes have now been successful at
simulating all aspects of the binary black hole problem inside an artificially
constructed outer boundary. A prime application of characteristic evolution is
to extend such simulations to null infinity where the waveform from the binary
inspiral and merger can be unambiguously computed. This has now been
accomplished by Cauchy-characteristic extraction, where data for the
characteristic evolution is supplied by Cauchy data on an extraction worldtube
inside the artificial outer boundary. The ultimate application of
characteristic evolution is to eliminate the role of this outer boundary by
constructing a global solution via Cauchy-characteristic matching. Progress in
this direction is discussed.Comment: New version to appear in Living Reviews 2012. arXiv admin note:
updated version of arXiv:gr-qc/050809
Numerical solution of gravitational dynamics in asymptotically anti-de Sitter spacetimes
A variety of gravitational dynamics problems in asymptotically anti-de Sitter
(AdS) spacetime are amenable to efficient numerical solution using a common
approach involving a null slicing of spacetime based on infalling geodesics,
convenient exploitation of the residual diffeomorphism freedom, and use of
spectral methods for discretizing and solving the resulting differential
equations. Relevant issues and choices leading to this approach are discussed
in detail. Three examples, motivated by applications to non-equilibrium
dynamics in strongly coupled gauge theories, are discussed as instructive test
cases. These are gravitational descriptions of homogeneous isotropization,
collisions of planar shocks, and turbulent fluid flows in two spatial
dimensions.Comment: 70 pages, 19 figures; v4: fixed minus sign typo in last term of eqn.
(3.47
A Discontinuous Galerkin Method for Ideal Two-Fluid Plasma Equations
A discontinuous Galerkin method for the ideal 5 moment two-fluid plasma
system is presented. The method uses a second or third order discontinuous
Galerkin spatial discretization and a third order TVD Runge-Kutta time stepping
scheme. The method is benchmarked against an analytic solution of a dispersive
electron acoustic square pulse as well as the two-fluid electromagnetic shock
and existing numerical solutions to the GEM challenge magnetic reconnection
problem. The algorithm can be generalized to arbitrary geometries and three
dimensions. An approach to maintaining small gauge errors based on error
propagation is suggested.Comment: 40 pages, 18 figures
Matter flows around black holes and gravitational radiation
We develop and calibrate a new method for estimating the gravitational
radiation emitted by complex motions of matter sources in the vicinity of black
holes. We compute numerically the linearized curvature perturbations induced by
matter fields evolving in fixed black hole backgrounds, whose evolution we
obtain using the equations of relativistic hydrodynamics. The current
implementation of the proposal concerns non-rotating holes and axisymmetric
hydrodynamical motions. As first applications we study i) dust shells falling
onto the black hole isotropically from finite distance, ii) initially spherical
layers of material falling onto a moving black hole, and iii) anisotropic
collapse of shells. We focus on the dependence of the total gravitational wave
energy emission on the flow parameters, in particular shell thickness, velocity
and degree of anisotropy. The gradual excitation of the black hole quasi-normal
mode frequency by sufficiently compact shells is demonstrated and discussed. A
new prescription for generating physically reasonable initial data is
discussed, along with a range of technical issues relevant to numerical
relativity.Comment: 27 pages, 12 encapsulated figures, revtex, amsfonts, submitted to
Phys. Rev.
Multidomain Spectral Method for the Helically Reduced Wave Equation
We consider the 2+1 and 3+1 scalar wave equations reduced via a helical
Killing field, respectively referred to as the 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional
helically reduced wave equation (HRWE). The HRWE serves as the fundamental
model for the mixed-type PDE arising in the periodic standing wave (PSW)
approximation to binary inspiral. We present a method for solving the equation
based on domain decomposition and spectral approximation. Beyond describing
such a numerical method for solving strictly linear HRWE, we also present
results for a nonlinear scalar model of binary inspiral. The PSW approximation
has already been theoretically and numerically studied in the context of the
post-Minkowskian gravitational field, with numerical simulations carried out
via the "eigenspectral method." Despite its name, the eigenspectral technique
does feature a finite-difference component, and is lower-order accurate. We
intend to apply the numerical method described here to the theoretically
well-developed post-Minkowski PSW formalism with the twin goals of spectral
accuracy and the coordinate flexibility afforded by global spectral
interpolation.Comment: 57 pages, 11 figures, uses elsart.cls. Final version includes
revisions based on referee reports and has two extra figure
A hybridizable discontinuous Galerkin method for electromagnetics with a view on subsurface applications
Two Hybridizable Discontinuous Galerkin (HDG) schemes for the solution of
Maxwell's equations in the time domain are presented. The first method is based
on an electromagnetic diffusion equation, while the second is based on
Faraday's and Maxwell--Amp\`ere's laws. Both formulations include the diffusive
term depending on the conductivity of the medium. The three-dimensional
formulation of the electromagnetic diffusion equation in the framework of HDG
methods, the introduction of the conduction current term and the choice of the
electric field as hybrid variable in a mixed formulation are the key points of
the current study. Numerical results are provided for validation purposes and
convergence studies of spatial and temporal discretizations are carried out.
The test cases include both simulation in dielectric and conductive media
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