12/14/2005

Matthew Choptuik,
CIAR Cosmology & Gravity Program
Department of Physics and Astronomy, UBC

On the Shoulders of Giants Redux: Numerical Relativity in the World Year of Physics

I will give an overview of the state of the art of the numerical analysis of Einstein's equations (with or without matter sources).  I will argue that many of the exciting developments now occurring in our fields are the direct result of our having followed a path clearly laid out for us years or decades previously by a few key scientific figures.  The colloquium will focus on numerical relativity results in the general areas of gravitational collapse and interaction of compact objects that are trustworthy; i.e. for which reasonable error estimates exist, and for which the errors are reasonable! All members of the audience, if not so trained previously, will become instant experts in the establishment of such trustworthiness.