Source Modeling

General Relativity: A theory of gravitation that describes the gravitational force by the geometry of spacetime.

Einstein Field Equations: A set of 10 equations in General Relativity that describe the relationship between the curvature of spacetime and the distribution of matter and energy.

Schwarzschild Metric: A solution to the Einstein Field Equations that describes the geometry of spacetime outside a non-rotating, spherically symmetric mass, such as a black hole.

Kerr Metric: A solution to the Einstein Field Equations that describes the geometry of spacetime outside a rotating, axially symmetric black hole.

Gravitational Waves: Ripples in the curvature of spacetime caused by the acceleration of massive objects, such as merging black holes or neutron stars.

Linearized Gravity: An approximation to General Relativity that describes the behavior of gravitational waves in weak gravitational fields.

Wave Equation for Gravitational Waves: An equation that describes the propagation of gravitational waves through spacetime.

Poynting-Robertson Effect: The effect of radiation pressure on small particles orbiting around a star, causing them to lose energy and spiral inward.

Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation: The afterglow of the Big Bang, which provides a snapshot of the universe when it was only 380,000 years old.

LIGO: The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, a system of two detectors in the US designed to detect gravitational waves.

Virgo: A gravitational wave detector located in Italy.

Gravitational Wave Data Analysis: The process of extracting signals from detector noise and analyzing the properties of detected events.

Black Hole Mergers: The process of two black holes orbiting each other and eventually merging into a single black hole.

Neutron Star Mergers: The process of two neutron stars orbiting each other and eventually merging into a single object.

LISA: The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, a planned gravitational wave detector consisting of three spacecraft flying in a triangular formation in space.

Numerical Relativity: A field of study that uses numerical simulations to solve the Einstein Field Equations and investigate the behavior of black holes, neutron stars, and gravitational waves.

Binary Black Holes: Two black holes orbiting each other, eventually merging into a single black hole, which generates significant gravitational waves in the process.

Binary Neutron Stars: Two neutron stars orbiting each other, eventually merging into a single object, which generates gravitational waves that are potentially observable.

Black Hole-Neutron Star: A black hole and a neutron star that orbit each other, the black hole eventually swallowing the neutron star in a process that generates gravitational waves.

Core Collapse Supernovae: The core collapse of a massive star, which can produce significant gravitational waves as the core collapses and bounces.

Cosmic Strings: Hypothetical one-dimensional objects that would generate gravitational waves if they existed and moved.

Pulsars: Neutron stars that emit beams of radiation, which generate slight periodic variations in the arrival times of their signals due to the gravitational waves they produce.

Primordial Black Holes: Hypothetical black holes that could have formed in the early universe and could produce detectable gravitational waves.

Supernova Explosions: The explosive death of a massive star that can lead to the production of gravitational waves.

Ultraluminous X-ray Sources: Objects with high X-ray luminosity that are either accreting black holes or neutron stars, which have the potential to produce observable gravitational waves.

White Dwarf Binaries: Two white dwarfs orbiting each other, eventually merging into a single object, which generates gravitational waves that are potentially observable.