Sebastiano Bernuzzi - 1/2 Introduction to Numerical Relativity

Numerical General Relativity is the art of solving Einstein’s Field Equations with computational methods. These lectures will review the formalism currently employed for astrophysical simulations in strong-gravity, notably comprising compact binaries, gravitational collapse and gravitational waves. They will cover the following topics: 3+1 formulation of Einstein’s equations, the initial data problem, the evolution problem, the gauge choice and the extraction of gauge-invariant quantities. A selection of breakthrough results for gravitational-wave astronomy will also be presented.

Sebastiano Bernuzzi (Friedrich Schiller University Jena)