Numerical Relativity Simulations for Highly Eccentric Black Holes Mergers

Abstract

The precise modelling of gravitational waves has been crucial for their detection by the LIGO-Virgo-Kagra Collaboration. While most of the detected mergers fit into a quasicircular description, some challenging events do not seem to fit in this category, and seem to be more accurately interpreted as a highly eccentric merger of black holes. The aim of this project is to study the gravitational waves emitted by highly eccentric black hole binaries. This research has been conducted by performing simulations of Einstein’s equations (Numerical Relativity) using the open software Einstein Toolkit in high-performance computers including the supercomputer Mare Nostrum. After post-processing the output data, which is necessary in order to compute the gravitational waveform, an analysis has been carried out on the obtained results so as to evaluate the accuracy of the current methods of post-processing in the different scenarios of black holes mergers.