Numerical Simulations of Black Hole Binaries

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Abstract:: The inspiral and merger of binary black-hole systems produce gravitational waves which Advanced LIGO aims to detect. Numerical simulations of these binaries are used to compute waveform tem- plates that help LIGO pull signals out of noise and determine binary parameters such as masses and spins. We are conducting simulations of binary black-hole mergers with high spins of 0.91 and 0.99 oriented in a “superkick” configuration, in which linear momentum is radiated anisotropically and the remnant black hole acquires a velocity of up to thousands of km/s. The final velocity depends sensitively on the initial spin orientations. Once our simulations complete, we will deter- mine whether LIGO can distinguish between initial spin orientations for these high-spin systems; it cannot for low-spin systems. We have also developed new code which measures the eccentricity of the orbit and computes new orbital parameters. It is written in C++, and includes error bars on computed quantities. Several simulations are run iteratively, adjusting the orbital parameters each time until the target eccentricity is reached. Our new code will run during the main simulation instead of afterwards, allowing each iteration to end earlier, and thus increasing the speed of these simulations.

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Notes and Changes:: This is a proposal document for a SURF 2015 project; simulations of superkicks in black hole binaries.

LIGO Document T1500259-v1