Binary black hole evolutions of approximate puncture initial data

Tanja Bode, Pablo Laguna, Deirdre M. Shoemaker, Ian Hinder, Frank Herrmann, and Birjoo Vaishnav
Phys. Rev. D 80, 024008 – Published 10 July 2009

Abstract

Approximate solutions to the Einstein field equations are valuable tools to investigate gravitational phenomena. An important aspect of any approximation is to investigate and quantify its regime of validity. We present a study that evaluates the effects that approximate puncture initial data, based on skeleton solutions to the Einstein constraints as proposed by [G. Faye, P. Jaranowski, and G. Schäfer, Phys. Rev. D 69, 124029 (2004).], have on numerical evolutions. Using data analysis tools, we assess the effectiveness of these constraint-violating initial data for both initial and advanced LIGO and show that the matches of waveforms from skeleton data with the corresponding waveforms from constraint-satisfying initial data are 0.97 when the total mass of the binary is 40M. In addition, we demonstrate that the differences between the skeleton and the constraint-satisfying initial data evolutions, and thus waveforms, are due to negative Hamiltonian constraint violations present in the skeleton initial data located in the vicinity of the punctures. During the evolution, the skeleton data develops both Hamiltonian and momentum constraint violations that decay with time, with the binary system relaxing to a constraint-satisfying solution with black holes of smaller mass and thus different dynamics.

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  • Received 9 February 2009

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.80.024008

©2009 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Tanja Bode1, Pablo Laguna2, Deirdre M. Shoemaker2, Ian Hinder3, Frank Herrmann4, and Birjoo Vaishnav5

  • 1Center for Gravitational Wave Physics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA
  • 2Center for Relativistic Astrophysics and School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA
  • 3Max-Planck-Institut für Gravitationsphysik, Albert-Einstein-Institut, Golm, Germany
  • 4Center for Scientific Computation and Mathematical Modeling, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA
  • 5Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Texas at Brownsville, Brownsville, Texas 78520, USA

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Issue

Vol. 80, Iss. 2 — 15 July 2009

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