U.S.-South Africa Cooperative Research: Light Cone Evolution of General Relativity

该奖项支持杰弗里·H教授之间的一个为期三年的合作研究项目。匹兹堡大学物理与天文学系Winicour教授和奈杰尔T. Bishop，Department of Mathematics and Astronomy，University of South Africa（UNISA），比勒陀利亚。 此外，德班-韦斯特维尔大学（南非一所历史上处于不利地位的大学）的一名初级调查员将参加该项目，匹兹堡大学的一名研究生也将参加。 研究人员将合作进行与二元黑洞“大挑战”相关的研究，其目标是计算两个黑洞在螺旋和合并过程中发出的引力辐射。 这个问题可以分为两部分：（a）黑洞附近的强场区域，和（B）延伸到无穷远的外部区域。 有待开展的工作涉及（B）部分以及（a）和（B）部分之间的接口。 拟议中的合作结合了数值计算方面的专业知识和使用美国超级计算机的机会，而南非方面提供了代数计算方面的特殊专业知识。 国际合作也将为两国的年轻研究人员提供新的研究机会。

This award supports a three-year collaborative research project between Professor Jeffrey H. Winicour, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh, and Professor Nigel T. Bishop, Department of Mathematics and Astronomy, University of South Africa (UNISA), Pretoria. In addition, a junior investigator from the University of Durban-Westville, a historically disadvantaged institution in South Africa, will participate in the project, as well as a graduate student from the University of Pittsburgh. The investigators will collaborate on research relevant to the Binary Black Hole `Grand Challenge,` whose objective is to calculate the gravitational radiation that is emitted during the in-spiral and coalescence of two black holes. The problem can be divided into two parts: (a) the strong-field region near the black holes, and (b) the outer region extending to infinity. The work to be undertaken concerns part (b), as well as the interface between parts (a) and (b). The proposed collaboration combines expertise in numerical computing and access to supercomputers in the United States, while the South African side offers special expertise in algebraic computing. The international collaboration will also give new research opportunities to young researchers in both countries.