How accurate is Spectral Einstein Code (SpEC)? And what limits its accuracy?

Abstract

The improved sensitivity of upcoming gravitational-wave detectors will require correspondingly more accurate binary black hole (BBH) simulations. Given the high cost of such simulations, it is essential to understand their sources of error and use computational resources efficiently. We study sources of error in BBH simulations performed with the Spectral Einstein Code (SpEC) and seek to understand what limits their accuracy. In particular, we focus on the inspiral phase because it is the longest-running part of the simulation and accounts for the majority of the waveform error. We find that targeted changes to simulation parameters and resolution in different parts of the computational domain reduce constraint violations and gravitational waveform differences. We also discuss more fundamental limitations on our accuracy that become important at higher resolutions: floating-point errors and large differences in the scales of the fundamental variables. Addressing these limitations will require substantial changes to both the SpEC code and the formulation it uses to evolve Einstein's equations. Many of the improvements and changes discussed in this paper are likely to be relevant to other numerical relativity codes.