59 research outputs found
The hydrodynamics of galaxy formation on Kiloparsec scales
Two dimensional numerical simulations of Zeldovich pancake fragmentation in a dark matter dominated universe were carried out to study the hydrodynamical and gravitational effects on the formation of structures such as protogalaxies. Preliminary results were given in Yuan, Centrella and, Norman (1991). Here we report a more exhaustive study to determine the sensitivity of protogalaxies to input parameters. The numerical code we used for the simulations combines the hydrodynamical code ZEUS-2D (Stone and Norman, 1992) which was modified to include the expansion of the universe and radiative cooling of the gas with a particle-mesh code which follows the motion of dark matter particles. The resulting hybrid code is able to handle highly nonuniform grids which we utilized to obtain a high resolution (much greater than 1 kpc) in the dense region of the pancake
Historical perspective on astrophysical MHD simulations
This contribution contains the introductory remarks that I presented at IAU
Symposium 270 on ``Computational Star Formation" held in Barcelona, Spain, May
31 -- June 4, 2010. I discuss the historical development of numerical MHD
methods in astrophysics from a personal perspective. The recent advent of
robust, higher order-accurate MHD algorithms and adaptive mesh refinement
numerical simulations promises to greatly improve our understanding of the role
of magnetic fields in star formation.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, in "Computational Star Formation" held in
Barcelona, Spain, May 31 - June 4, 2010", Eds. J. Alves, B. G. Elmegreen, J.
M. Girart, V. Trimbl
Binary black hole merger dynamics and waveforms
We study dynamics and radiation generation in the last few orbits and merger
of a binary black hole system, applying recently developed techniques for
simulations of moving black holes. Our analysis of the gravitational radiation
waveforms and dynamical black hole trajectories produces a consistent picture
for a set of simulations with black holes beginning on circular-orbit
trajectories at a variety of initial separations. We find profound agreement at
the level of one percent among the simulations for the last orbit, merger and
ringdown. We are confident that this part of our waveform result accurately
represents the predictions from Einstein's General Relativity for the final
burst of gravitational radiation resulting from the merger of an astrophysical
system of equal-mass non-spinning black holes. The simulations result in a
final black hole with spin parameter a/m=0.69. We also find good agreement at a
level of roughly 10 percent for the radiation generated in the preceding few
orbits.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figures, submitted to PRD, update citations, minor
change
Binary black hole late inspiral: Simulations for gravitational wave observations
Coalescing binary black hole mergers are expected to be the strongest
gravitational wave sources for ground-based interferometers, such as the LIGO,
VIRGO, and GEO600, as well as the space-based interferometer LISA. Until
recently it has been impossible to reliably derive the predictions of General
Relativity for the final merger stage, which takes place in the strong-field
regime. Recent progress in numerical relativity simulations is, however,
revolutionizing our understanding of these systems. We examine here the
specific case of merging equal-mass Schwarzschild black holes in detail,
presenting new simulations in which the black holes start in the late inspiral
stage on orbits with very low eccentricity and evolve for ~1200M through ~7
orbits before merging. We study the accuracy and consistency of our simulations
and the resulting gravitational waveforms, which encompass ~14 cycles before
merger, and highlight the importance of using frequency (rather than time) to
set the physical reference when comparing models. Matching our results to PN
calculations for the earlier parts of the inspiral provides a combined waveform
with less than half a cycle of accumulated phase error through the entire
coalescence. Using this waveform, we calculate signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs)
for iLIGO, adLIGO, and LISA, highlighting the contributions from the
late-inspiral and merger-ringdown parts of the waveform which can now be
simulated numerically. Contour plots of SNR as a function of z and M show that
adLIGO can achieve SNR >~ 10 for some intermediate-mass binary black holes
(IMBBHs) out to z ~ 1, and that LISA can see massive binary black holes (MBBHs)
in the range 3x10^4 100 out to the earliest epochs
of structure formation at z > 15.Comment: 17 pages, 20 figures. Final published versio
GRAVITATIONAL WAVE EXTRACTION FROM AN INSPIRALING CONFIGURATION OF MERGING BLACK HOLES
We present new techniques for evolving binary black hole systems which allow the accurate determination of gravitational waveforms directly from the wave zone region of the numerical simulations. Rather than excising the black hole interiors, our approach follows the "puncture" treatment of black holes, but utilizing a new gauge condition which allows the black holes to move successfully through the computational domain. We apply these techniques to an inspiraling binary, modeling the radiation generated during the final plunge and ringdown. We demonstrate convergence of the waveforms and and good conservation of mass-energy, with just over 3% of the system s mass converted to gravitational radiation
Getting a kick out of numerical relativity
Recent developments in numerical relativity have made it possible to follow
reliably the coalescence of two black holes from near the innermost stable
circular orbit to final ringdown. This opens up a wide variety of exciting
astrophysical applications of these simulations. Chief among these is the net
kick received when two unequal mass or spinning black holes merge. The
magnitude of this kick has bearing on the production and growth of supermassive
black holes during the epoch of structure formation, and on the retention of
black holes in stellar clusters. Here we report the first accurate numerical
calculation of this kick, for two nonspinning black holes in a 1.5:1 mass
ratio, which is expected based on analytic considerations to give a significant
fraction of the maximum possible recoil. We have performed multiple runs with
different initial separations, orbital angular momenta, resolutions, extraction
radii, and gauges. The full range of our kick speeds is 86--116 km s,
and the most reliable runs give kicks between 86 and 97 km s. This is
intermediate between the estimates from two recent post-Newtonian analyses and
suggests that at redshifts , halos with masses will have difficulty retaining coalesced black holes after major
mergers.Comment: Updated. Accepted by ApJ Letter
Beta1 integrins modulate cell adhesion by regulating insulin-like growth factor-II levels in the microenvironment
The interactions between cancer cells and the extracellular matrix (ECM) regulate cancer progression. The beta1C and beta1A integrins, two cytoplasmic variants of the beta1 integrin subfamily, are differentially expressed in prostate cancer. Using gene expression analysis, we show here that the beta1C variant, an inhibitor of cell proliferation, which is down-regulated in prostate cancer, up-regulates insulin-like growth factor-II (IGF-II) mRNA and protein levels. In contrast, beta1A does not affect IGF-II levels. We provide evidence that beta1C-mediated up-regulation of IGF-II levels increases adhesion to Laminin-1, a basement membrane protein down-regulated in prostate cancer, and that the beta1C cytoplasmic domain contains the structural motif sufficient to increase cell adhesion to Laminin-1. This autocrine mechanism that locally supports cell adhesion to Laminin-1 via IGF-II is selectively regulated by the beta1 cytoplasmic domain via activation of the growth factor receptor binding protein 2-associated binder-1/SH2-containing protein-tyrosine phosphatase 2/phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase pathway. Thus, the concurrent local loss of beta1C integrin, of its ligand Laminin-1, and of IGF-II in the tumor microenvironment may promote prostate cancer cell invasion and metastasis by reducing cancer cell adhesive properties. It is, therefore, conceivable that reexpression of beta1C will be sufficient to revert a neoplastic phenotype to a nonproliferative and highly adherent normal phenotype
Status of NINJA: The Numerical INJection Analysis project
The 2008 NRDA conference introduced the Numerical INJection Analysis project (NINJA), a new collaborative effort between the numerical relativity community and the data analysis community. NINJA focuses on modeling and searching for gravitational wave signatures from the coalescence of binary system of compact objects. We review the scope of this collaboration and the components of the first NINJA project, where numerical relativity groups, shared waveforms and data analysis teams applied various techniques to detect them when embedded in colored Gaussian noise. © 2009 IOP Publishing Ltd
Testing gravitational-wave searches with numerical relativity waveforms: Results from the first Numerical INJection Analysis (NINJA) project
The Numerical INJection Analysis (NINJA) project is a collaborative effort between members of the numerical relativity and gravitational-wave data analysis communities. The purpose of NINJA is to study the sensitivity of existing gravitational-wave search algorithms using numerically generated waveforms and to foster closer collaboration between the numerical relativity and data analysis communities. We describe the results of the first NINJA analysis which focused on gravitational waveforms from binary black hole coalescence. Ten numerical relativity groups contributed numerical data which were used to generate a set of gravitational-wave signals. These signals were injected into a simulated data set, designed to mimic the response of the initial LIGO and Virgo gravitational-wave detectors. Nine groups analysed this data using search and parameter-estimation pipelines. Matched filter algorithms, un-modelled-burst searches and Bayesian parameter estimation and model-selection algorithms were applied to the data. We report the efficiency of these search methods in detecting the numerical waveforms and measuring their parameters. We describe preliminary comparisons between the different search methods and suggest improvements for future NINJA analyses. © 2009 IOP Publishing Ltd
Testing gravitational-wave searches with numerical relativity waveforms: Results from the first Numerical INJection Analysis (NINJA) project
The Numerical INJection Analysis (NINJA) project is a collaborative effort
between members of the numerical relativity and gravitational-wave data
analysis communities. The purpose of NINJA is to study the sensitivity of
existing gravitational-wave search algorithms using numerically generated
waveforms and to foster closer collaboration between the numerical relativity
and data analysis communities. We describe the results of the first NINJA
analysis which focused on gravitational waveforms from binary black hole
coalescence. Ten numerical relativity groups contributed numerical data which
were used to generate a set of gravitational-wave signals. These signals were
injected into a simulated data set, designed to mimic the response of the
Initial LIGO and Virgo gravitational-wave detectors. Nine groups analysed this
data using search and parameter-estimation pipelines. Matched filter
algorithms, un-modelled-burst searches and Bayesian parameter-estimation and
model-selection algorithms were applied to the data. We report the efficiency
of these search methods in detecting the numerical waveforms and measuring
their parameters. We describe preliminary comparisons between the different
search methods and suggest improvements for future NINJA analyses.Comment: 56 pages, 25 figures; various clarifications; accepted to CQ
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