Marshall University

Department of Physics and Astronomy

University of Pittsburgh

My research is focused on numerical relativity.

Numerical relativity is very useful in providing reliable simulations of astrophysical scenarios, such as: binary black hole mergers, binary neutron star mergers, supernova core collapse to mention only few of the applications. A key motivation in introducing computational methods in general relativity is to solve numerically the Einstein equations to study the details of binary waveforms and to provide wave patterns. Simulating binary black holes is a tough problem because it poses grand challenges. To mention just a few:

Einstein's equations are complicated, and it is not clear which is the most suitable implementation The coordinate freedom makes unclear which gauge conditions lead to non-pathological evolution Black holes contain singularities that have to be elliminated from numerical simulations In the last few years significant progress has been made in clarifying the underlying mathematical problem of critical collapse of rotating systems, and in transferring these insights to the numerical problem, in order to achieve long-term stable evolution codes. The past year has seen dramatic progress in numerical relativity simulations of binary black holes. A number of groups have reported significant advances and are now able to model the binary inspiral, coalescence and merger together with the emitted gravitational wave signal.

The computed gravitational wave signal can be used by gravitational wave observatories, such as LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) and LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) as waveform estimates for data analysis. Direct observation of gravitational waves will dramatically expand our knowledge of the Universe.

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maria@einstein.phyast.pitt.edu