Project Grant 2608279

The National Science Foundation Division of Physics awarded The University of Mississippi $240,000 on August 15, 2026, under the Mathematical and Physical Sciences program (CFDA 47.049) to develop precision gravitational wave models combining numerical and analytical relativity approaches.

The award funds two research components. Part I involves analytical modeling of inspirals and gravitational wave signals from binary black hole systems on eccentric orbits with misaligned spins, accounting for complex spin and orbital plane precession. These analytical waveforms will be hybridized with numerical relativity supercomputer simulations—a process not previously performed for eccentric spin-precessing systems. Part II focuses on validating numerical relativity codes by benchmarking multiple codes against each other through comparative analysis, including mapping parameter spaces across different simulation methodologies. The award also compares and quantifies waveforms from numerical relativity and black hole perturbation theory, with particular attention to precession effects in extreme mass-ratio binaries where perturbation theory is more practical than full numerical simulation.

Work is performed at The University of Mississippi, University, Mississippi, with a period of performance through July 31, 2029. This project grant is classified as assistance funding to support the theoretical modeling required to extract maximum scientific value from gravitational wave observations as detector sensitivity improves.