NUMERICAL RELATIVITY

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Abstract
The present status of numerical relativity is reviewed. There are five closely interconnected aspects of numerical relativity: (1) Formulation. The general covariant Einstein equations are reformulated in a way suitable for numerical study by separating the 4-dimensional spacetime into a 3-dimensional space evolving in time. (2) Techniques. A set of tools is developed for determining gauge choices, setting boundary and initial conditions, handling spacetime singularities, etc. As required by the special physical and mathematical properties of general relativity, such techniques are indispensable for the numerical evolutions of spacetime. (3) Coding. The optimal use of parallel processing is crucial for many problems in numerical relativity, due to the intrinsic complexity of the theory. (4) Visualization. Numerical relativity is about the evolutions of 3-dimensional geometric structures. There are special demands on visualization. (5) Interpretation and Understanding. The integration of numerical data in relativity into a consistent physical picture is complicated by gauge and coordinate degrees of freedoms and other difficulties. We give a brief overview of the progress made in these areas.

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