The Era of Precision in Computational Models of Gravitational Waves

Abstract

Einstein's equations of general relativity are one of the most complicated set of equations in all of physics and, for all but idealized physical settings, can only be solved by numerical methods on high-performance computing systems. Generating such solutions is a veritable Odyssey in its own right with adventures across the fields of mathematical theory, physical interpretation and computing challenges. These endeavors came to fruition in the mid 2000s when the two-body problem of general relativity was finally solved. And not too soon, as these results and their follow-up investigations came to play a key role in the Nobel-Prize winning discovery of gravitational waves by LIGO in 2015.