Conformal thin-sandwich solver for generic initial data

Abstract

We present a new scheme for constructing initial data for the Einstein field equations using the conformal thin-sandwich formulation that does not assume conformal flatness or approximate Killing vectors. This includes a method for determining free data based on superposition, as well as a way to handle black hole singularities without excision. We numerically solve the constraint equations using a multigrid algorithm with mesh refinement. We demonstrate the efficacy of the method with initial data solutions for several applications: a quasicircular binary black hole merger, a dynamical capture black hole-neutron star merger, and an ultrarelativistic collision.