Led by J.A. Font, this research line conducts research in numerical relativity (NR), GW data analysis, and detector characterization. GWNR group members are affiliated with the Virgo Collaboration, the Einstein Telescope (ET) Collaboration, and the LISA mission. The group contributes to the observing runs of the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) GW detector network, particularly regarding the scientific exploitation of the data from all observational campaigns (O1-O4). The GWNR group contributes through its three main research activities: (1) NR modeling of astrophysical sources of GW, including binary black hole (BBH) mergers, binary neutron star (BNS) mergers, burst sources as CCSNe, and fundamental physics sources as exotic compact objects (bosonic stars); (2) GW data analysis (algorithm and pipeline development for searches, glitch classification, signal denoising, waveform reconstruction, and parameter estimation through Bayesian inference, variational methods, and Machine Learning (ML)); and (3) contributions to Advanced Virgo (commissioning, detector characterization and technical noise mitigation). The group is internationally recognized for the so-called “Valencia formulation” of general-relativistic hydrodynamics, an approach adopted by most NR groups worldwide to simulate the dynamics of neutron stars and compute waveforms, and for producing the first relativistic CCSN waveforms used in LVK searches. The group has also participated (and in some cases led) pioneering investigations of the EM/GW correlation in compact binaries, the magnetic-field amplification in rotating proto-neutron stars (PNS) and BNS mergers, the feasibility of PNS asteroseismology using GW signals, and has put forward the viability of bosonic stars as potential astrophysical candidates, showing that actual LVK events (GW190521) might be explained by alternatives to BBH mergers. The recent incorporation of Dr. Doneva to the group, a leading expert in modified gravity and BH scalarization, strengthens the Department’s capabilities in beyond-GR theories and multi-messenger astrophysics.
Senior researchers: P. Cerdá-Durán, D. Doneva, J.A. Font, M. Ruiz, N. Sanchis, A. Torres-Forné
More information:
https://www.uv.es/rag/relativistic_astrophysics.html
