Numerical relativity as a tool for computational astrophysics (Q1807737)

This article is devoted to review the essential mathematical and computational elements needed for a full scale numerical relativity code that can treat a variety of problems in relativistic astrophysics and gravitation. The review contains various formulations of the Einstein equations for evolving space like time slices (constraint equations, evolution equations, boundary conditions), techniques for providing initial data, the basic ideas of gauge conditions, several important analysis tools for discovering the physics contained in a simulation (horizon finders, locating the apparent and event horizons, wave extraction), and numerical algorithms for each of these items. In the paper a code called ''Cactus'' is introduced and some of the algorithms and capabilities of this code are described. This code is also designated as a community code and will be made available with full documentation via \url{http://www.cactuscode.org}.