Full Numerical Studies of Extreme and Eccentric Binary Black Hole Mergers

Gravitational Wave Astronomy provides a revolutionary new view of the universe that can probe previously unexplored regions, including the interiors of neutron stars, collisions of black holes, which emit energy at luminosities exceeding the entire visible universe, and even remnants of the Big Bang. To gain new insights into the dynamics of the universe, gravitational waves astronomers need to be able to infer the nature of the sources from the observed signals, which can only be done using highly accurate numerical modeling of potential sources. The main goals of this project are to provide the necessary numerical models for some of the most challenging to simulate black-hole configurations, such as small mass ratios, highly spinning binaries, and highly energetic black hole collisions, as well as provide training to postdoctoral researchers and support graduate students in two interdisciplinary PhD programs at the Rochester Institute of Technolgy: Astrophysical Sciences and Technology, and Mathematical Modeling. This research will systematically produce waveforms for the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA collaboration to assist in source parametrization and model the remnant mass, spin, and gravitational recoil from binaries with small-mass-ratios, highly precessing binaries, highly spinning binaries, high energy collisions of black holes, and multiple (3 or more) black hole interactions, to elucidate astrophysical distribution impacts on black hole growth. Key objectives include: Producing and releasing gravitational waveforms from previously undersampled regions of the binary parameter space for LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA data analysis, employing them in parameter estimation, modeling black hole binaries' extreme dynamics, and improving simulation code accuracy and efficiency. This award will significantly enhance the research efforts of the Principal Investigators, a postdoctoral researcher, PhD students, and RIT's Center for Computational Relativity and Gravitation, integrating Numerical Relativity into gravitational waves data analysis and astrophysical studies. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.