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Numerical relativists use computational techniques to study gravity, modeling such exotic astrophysical objects and events as black holes, neutron stars, cosmology, supernovae and gravitational waves. For relativists, computers and models are crucial tools, providing the only means of effectively studying and understanding these complex events. Usually, the underlying equations which numerical relativists use come from Einstein's General Theory for Relativity, although alternative theories of gravity are also studied using computers. Einstein's theory provides us with an extremely complicated set of coupled tensor equations, with each equation containing several hundred terms. The size and complexity of the equations, together with the high resolution needed, means that numerical relativists need to use large supercomputers such as the CCT Supermike cluster, and cutting edge computational and algorithmic techniques for their models.
 At the CCT, the numerical relativity group is concentrating on the binary black hole problem. At present Gravitational Wave detectors like LIGO, GEO 600 and Virgo are being built and are close to taking real data. One of the most promising sources of gravitational waves, strong enough to be detected with the initial detectors, are the inspiral and collision of black holes. However, in order to dig out the signal from the noise, knowledge of the gravitational waveform is needed. We are currently working towards improving the numerical simulations of binary black holes in order to provide these waveforms.
The numerical relativity group is working closely with other CCT focus areas to develop the tools needed for large scale simulations --- with the Frameworks group and the Cactus Framework who provide the core framework for the groups simulations, and with the Grid Computing and Collaborative Environments groups who are developing new tools to exploit computing resources.
The CCT numerical relativity group works very closely with the relativity group in the LSU Physics Department, and also with the numerical relativity group at the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute) in Potsdam, Germany.
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