Numerical Simulation of General Relativistic Stellar Collapse

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new numerical code for simulating the general relativistic collapse of stars, demonstrating its capabilities and limitations through preliminary tests on a 21 solar mass star.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel finite-difference code based on Misner-Sharp formalism for simulating stellar collapse in general relativity, optimized for personal computer use.

Findings

Code successfully simulates spherical stellar collapse

Demonstrates potential for numerical relativity applications

Identifies limitations and areas for improvement

Abstract

We present preliminar results and tests of a new general relativistic code to simulate the hydrodynamic collapse of a 21 solar masses star. We have assumed spherical symmetry and used the formalism of Misner and Sharp to construct a finite-difference scheme to solve the Einstein's equations, energy-momentum conservation equations and baryonic conservation equation. The code is similar to the one originally developed by May and White (1967). Here we discuss the capabilities of the code that make it well suited for numerical relativity on a personal computer and some caveats based on the experiments we have made with it.