Null cone computation of gravitational radiation

Abstract

The production of gravitational waves is explored, both analytically and numerically, using a null cone formulation of axially symmetric gravitational and matter fields. The coupled field equations are written in an integral form, on a single conformally compactified patch, which is well suited for numerical computation. Some analytic and numerical solutions of the initial value problem are given. The total mass and radiation flux is studied in detail for a special class of collapsing dust configurations.