The NSF's LIGO gravitational wave detectors are among a number of new and planned facilities all over the world which are designed to directly detect and measure gravitational waves. The observation of gravitational waves will open a new window on the universe by enabling us to study exotic objects such as black holes, supernovae, neutron stars, collapsars and gamma-ray bursts. The research in this project is aimed at simulating on the computer what is expected to be one of the most important sources of gravitational radiation, namely binary systems consisting of black holes. The black holes in such systems spiral towards each other until they form a larger merged black hole. The plan for this project is to investigate these systems in order to make predictions about the gravitational waves emitted during their inspiral and merger. In the course of this work, several key physics questions will be addressed: (i) What is the maximum possible recoil velocity after the two black holes have merged? (ii) For what configurations can spin flips occur? (iii) What is the maximum achievable angular momentum of the final merged black hole? (iv) How sensitive are the simulations to the choice of the initial conditions? This work is important because gravitational wave detectors (such as LIGO) need reliable theoretical predictions of the gravitational waves which will be observed in the near future. Other aspects of this work have implications for a variety of astrophysical models. For example, the magnitude of the recoil of the final black hole is an important input parameter for the cosmological evolution of supermassive black holes or the growth and retention of intermediate-mass black holes in dense stellar clusters. In addition, this investigation makes key contributions to synergistic efforts, ranging from numerical and mathematical relativity to gravitational wave astrophysics. It is carried out in collaboration with the relativity group at the University of Jena in Germany. Regular exchange with this institution through visits by faculty, post-docs and students will have educational benefits for both the students at Florida Atlantic University and the students in Jena.
