Collaborative Research: XiRel, A Next Generation Infrastructure for Numerical Relativity

该奖项通过路易斯安那州立大学、宾夕法尼亚州立大学和罗切斯特理工学院的研究人员之间的合作，支持大规模模拟引力波源（数值相对论）的软件基础设施的开发。最近的突破为数值相对论界提供了基本的技术，用于发展双黑洞的多个轨道，包括合并和最终的黑洞环灭阶段。来自这些计算机模拟的信息有可能提高地基和天基引力波探测器识别来自这些奇异事件的引力波信号的可能性，并在信号被检测到时提高确定这些系统特性的能力。即将开发的基础设施被称为XiRel，将建立并集成几个发展良好且广泛使用的计算基础设施和新兴标准，包括Cactus和Carpet。该项目的最初和主要重点是基于现有的Carpet驱动程序开发一个高度可扩展、高效和精确的自适应网格细化层，Cactus将完全集成和支持该驱动程序，并针对数值相对论进行优化。该项目的科学目标是对具有比目前可能的更大的初始距离、不相等质量和不相等自旋的双黑洞进行精确模拟，并为引力波天文学和天体物理学提供关键的可靠物理结果。该奖项由数学和物理科学理事会的物理部以及计算机和信息科学与工程理事会的计算和通信基础部提供支持。

This award supports the development of software infrastructure for large scale simulations of gravitational wave sources (numerical relativity) through a collaboration among researchers at Louisiana State University, Pennsylvania State University, and Rochester Institute of Technology. Recent breakthroughs have provided the numerical relativity community with the basic techniques in to evolve binary black holes for multiple orbits, including the merger and final black hole ring-down phases. Information from these computer simulations have the potential both to enhance the likelihood that ground-based and space-based gravitational wave detectors will recognize these gravitational wave signals from these exotic events and to improve the ability to determine the properties of these systems if signals are detected. The infrastructure to be developed, called XiRel, will build upon and integrate several well developed and widely used computational infrastructures and emerging standards, including Cactus and Carpet. The initial and primary focus of this project is the development of a highly scalable, efficient and accurate adaptive mesh refinement layer based on the existing Carpet driver, which will be fully integrated and supported in Cactus and optimized for numerical relativity. This project will be driven by the scientific goal to perform accurate simulations of black hole binaries with larger initial separations than currently possible, with un-equal masses and unequal spins, and providing reliable physical results critical for gravitational wave astronomy and astrophysics. This award is supported by the Division of Physics in the Mathematical and Physical Sciences Directorate and by the Division of Computing and Communication Foundations in the Computer and Information Science and Engineering Directorate.