Building black holes, gravitational waves, and relativistic fluid flows: supercomputer cinema

The authors have constructed a new computer code to solve Einstein´s equations of general relativity for the dynamical evolution of a relativistic star cluster. The cluster may contain a large number of stars that move in a strong gravitational field at velocities approaching the speed of light. Unstable star clusters undergo catastrophic collapse to black holes. The collapse of an unstable cluster to a supermassive black hole at the center of a galaxy may explain the origin of quasars and active galactic nuclei. By means of a supercomputer simulation and color graphics, the whole process can be viewed in real time on a movie screen. The authors have also written a multidimensional relativistic hydrodynamics code to determine the flow of gas onto such black holes