Visualization of the GW190412 event based on a simulation by the SXS collaboration

Document #:

LIGO-G2000575-v5

Document type:

G - Presentations (eg Graphics)

Abstract:

Title of video:

Numerical simulation of a black-hole binary merger with asymmetric masses and orbital precession (GW190412)

Caption of video:

Numerical simulation of two black holes that inspiral and merge, emitting gravitational waves. One black hole is 3.5x more massive than the other and spins, which makes the orbit precess. The simulated gravitational wave signal is consistent with the observation made by the LIGO and Virgo gravitational wave detectors on April 12th, 2019 (GW190412).
Details on the visualization:
- The „apparent horizon“ of the black holes in the simulation are shown in black. At 1:09 the simulation finds an enveloping apparent horizon that signals the two black holes have merged.
- The coloring on the horizons represents their deformation. Specifically, it shows the two-dimensional Ricci scalar on the surface. White arrows indicate the direction of the black hole’s spin.
- The gravitational radiation is translated to colors around the black holes. The colors transition from blue, representing weak radiation, to red, representing strong radiation. Specifically, the coloring represents the real part of the gravitational wave strain with its inverse radial scaling removed for visualization. The strain is computed from the simulation’s extrapolated waveform, which is shown at the bottom of the screen.

Credit: N. Fischer, H. Pfeiffer, S. Ossokine, A. Buonanno (Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics), Simulating eXtreme Spacetimes (SXS) Collaboration. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4980984

Files in Document:

• Movie without extra visuals (GW190412_clean.mp4, file is not accessible)

Other Files:

• Closeup near merger (frame 3) (CloseupSlowdownNoTail_frame.000003_watermarked.png, file is not accessible)
• Closeup near merger with spin arrows and orbit (frame 3) (CloseupSlowdownWithSpins_frame.000003_watermarked.png, file is not accessible)
• Merger (Merger_frame_watermarked.png, file is not accessible)
• Merger face-on (FaceOnMerger_frame_watermarked.png, file is not accessible)
• Movie with spin arrows and horizon coloring (GW190412_with_spin.mp4, file is not accessible)
• Panorama (frame 17) (PanoramaNoTail_frame.000017_watermarked.png, file is not accessible)
• Panorama (frame 28) (PanoramaNoTail_frame.000028_watermarked.png, file is not accessible)
• Panorama (frame 31) (PanoramaNoTail_frame.000031_watermarked.png, file is not accessible)
• Panorama (frame 32) (PanoramaNoTail_frame.000032_watermarked.png, file is not accessible)
• Panorama at intermediate distance (frame 16) (IntermediatePanoramaNoTail_frame.000016_watermarked.png, file is not accessible)
• Panorama at intermediate distance (frame 28) (IntermediatePanoramaNoTail_frame.000028_watermarked.png, file is not accessible)
• Panorama face-on at intermediate distance (frame 20) (FaceOnIntermediateNoTail_frame.000020_watermarked.png, file is not accessible)
• Panorama with large radial scale (frame 23) (PanoramaLargeScaleNoTail_frame.000023_watermarked.png, file is not accessible)
• Panorama with large radial scale (frame 27) (PanoramaLargeScaleNoTail_frame.000027_watermarked.png, file is not accessible)
• Panorama with large radial scale (frame 30) (PanoramaLargeScaleNoTail_frame.000030_watermarked.png, file is not accessible)

Topics:

• Compact Binaries
• Education, Outreach

Authors:

• Nils Fischer
• Harald Pfeiffer

Notes and Changes:

Fix the transparency channel of the still images