Snowmass2021 Cosmic Frontier White Paper: Numerical relativity for next-generation gravitational-wave probes of fundamental physics

TL;DR

This white paper discusses the development of advanced numerical relativity simulations essential for next-generation gravitational-wave detectors to explore fundamental physics, requiring significant computational advancements.

Contribution

It highlights the need for scalable, high-accuracy numerical relativity simulations tailored for future supercomputing resources to enable groundbreaking gravitational-wave science.

Findings

Next-generation detectors will probe dense nuclear matter and spacetime dynamics.

Simulations must achieve unprecedented accuracy on future supercomputers.

Enhanced numerical relativity is crucial for testing general relativity and detecting cosmic particles.

Abstract

The next generation of gravitational-wave detectors, conceived to begin operations in the 2030s, will probe fundamental physics with exquisite sensitivity. These observations will measure the equation of state of dense nuclear matter in the most extreme environments in the universe, reveal with exquisite fidelity the nonlinear dynamics of warped spacetime, put general relativity to the strictest test, and perhaps use black holes as cosmic particle detectors. Achieving each of these goals will require a new generation of numerical relativity simulations that will run at scale on the supercomputers of the 2030s to achieve the necessary accuracy, which far exceeds the capabilities of numerical relativity and high-performance computing infrastructures available today.