Workshop From geometry to numerics
IHP, Paris, 20-24 November 2006

Mark Hannam (Univ. Jena, Germany)  

Moving punctures that are neither moving nor punctures

Currently the easiest way to successfully evolve binary black hole spacetimes  is with the "moving puncture" method, which involves evolving puncture  initial data with the BSSN system and a restricted set of gauge choices, all  involving 1+log slicing. We can gain much insight into this method by looking  at stationary slices of the Schwarzschild spacetime; in particular we find  that the puncture initial data quickly evolve to slices that end at a finite  areal radius from the singularity, and they lose contact with the puncture. I  will present numerical results from these evolutions, which suggest that the  moving-puncture method is extremely accurate and the solutions are  well-resolved even near the "puncture". I will also describe early work to  produce stationary "cylindrical" initial data for black-hole evolutions.

[slides]

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