How to move a black hole without excision: Gauge conditions for the numerical evolution of a moving puncture

Abstract

Recent demonstrations of unexcised black holes traversing across computational grids represent a significant advance in numerical relativity. Stable and accurate simulations of multiple orbits, and their radiated waves, result. This capability is critically undergirded by a careful choice of gauge. Here we present analytic considerations which suggest certain gauge choices, and numerically demonstrate their efficacy in evolving a single moving puncture black hole.