Berlin 2005 – scientific programme

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GR: Gravitation und Relativitätstheorie

GR 9: Gravitationswellen – Mathematisch-Numerische Grundlagen

GR 9.1: Talk

Saturday, March 5, 2005, 11:15–11:30, TU BH262

The why and how of treating infinite domains in numerical relativity — •Sascha Husa — MPI für Gravitationsphysik / Albert Einstein Institut

This talk discusses the problem of treating essentially infinite domains in the numerical modelling of isolated systems, in particular systems emitting gravitational radiation. After a brief discussion of physical, mathematical and practical issues in different approaches toward dealing with isolated systems in numerical relativity, I focus on the status of the conformal approach, where infinite domains are treated via conformal compactification. While this approach utilizes a complex mathematical formalism, the basic physical ideas are quite simple to understand, and can be summarized as trying to factor out the known falloff behaviour at large distances. The aim is to avoid ambiguities arising from artificial boundaries, and to avoid having to deal with very large or very small quantities related to the asymptotic falloff of the computational quantities. Finally, I review the current status of the AEI group regarding construction of initial data and time evolution.