Numerical modeling of black holes as sources of gravitational waves in a nutshell

Abstract

These notes summarize basic concepts underlying numerical relativity and in particular the numerical modeling of black hole dynamics as a source of gravitational waves. Main topics are the 3+1 decomposition of general relativity, the concept of a well-posed initial value problem, the construction of initial data for general relativity, trapped surfaces and gravitational waves. Also, a brief summary is given of recent progress regarding the numerical evolution of black hole binary systems.Comment: 28 pages, lectures given at winter school 'Conceptual and Numerical Challenges in Femto- and Peta-Scale Physics' in Schladming, Austria, 200