Numerical solutions to Einstein's equations in a shearing-dust Universe: a code comparison

Abstract

A number of codes for general-relativistic simulations of cosmological structure formation have been developed in recent years. Here we demonstrate that a sample of these codes produce consistent results beyond the Newtonian regime. We simulate solutions to Einstein's equations dominated by gravitomagnetism -- a vector-type gravitational field that doesn't exist in Newtonian gravity and produces frame-dragging, the leading-order post-Newtonian effect. We calculate the coordinate-invariant effect on intersecting null geodesics by performing ray tracing in each independent code. With this observable quantity, we assess and compare each code's ability to compute relativistic effects.