GWSurrogate: A Python package for gravitational wave surrogate models
arXiv:2504.08839 · doi:10.21105/joss.07073
Abstract
Fast and accurate waveform models are fundamentally important to modern gravitational wave astrophysics, enabling the study of merging compact objects like black holes and neutron stars. However, generating high-fidelity gravitational waveforms through numerical relativity simulations is computationally intensive, often requiring days to months of computation time on supercomputers. Surrogate models provide a practical solution to dramatically accelerate waveform evaluations (typically tens of milliseconds per evaluation) while retaining the accuracy of computationally expensive simulations. The GWSurrogate Python package provides easy access to these gravitational wave surrogate models through a user-friendly interface. Currently, the package supports 16 surrogate models, each varying in duration, included physical effects (e.g., nonlinear memory, tidal forces, harmonic modes, eccentricity, mass ratio range, precession effects), and underlying solution methods (e.g., Effective One Body, numerical relativity, black hole perturbation theory). GWSurrogate models follow the waveform model conventions used by the LIGO-Virgo-Kagra collaboration, making the package immediately suitable for both theoretical studies and practical gravitational wave data analysis. By enabling rapid and precise waveform generation, GWSurrogate serves as a production-level tool for diverse applications, including parameter estimation, template bank generation, and tests of general relativity.
5 pages and 1 figure. Published in the Journal of Open Source Software (JOSS)
References in corpus (16)
- Surrogate models for precessing binary black hole simulations with unequal masses
- Surrogate model of hybridized numerical relativity binary black hole waveforms
- Fast prediction and evaluation of gravitational waveforms using surrogate models
- Fast and accurate prediction of numerical relativity waveforms from binary black hole coalescences using surrogate models
- A Surrogate Model of Gravitational Waveforms from Numerical Relativity Simulations of Precessing Binary Black Hole Mergers
- A multipolar effective one body waveform model for spin-aligned black hole binaries
- Eccentric binary black hole surrogate models for the gravitational waveform and remnant properties: comparable mass, nonspinning case
- A Surrogate Model for Gravitational Wave Signals from Comparable- to Large- Mass-Ratio Black Hole Binaries
- Targeted large mass ratio numerical relativity surrogate waveform model for GW190814
- Numerical relativity surrogate model with memory effects and post-Newtonian hybridization
- Gravitational wave surrogate model for spinning, intermediate mass ratio binaries based on perturbation theory and numerical relativity
- Analyzing black-hole ringdowns
- An architecture for efficient gravitational wave parameter estimation with multimodal linear surrogate models
- Gravitational waveforms of binary neutron star inspirals using post-Newtonian tidal splicing
- A fully precessing higher-mode surrogate model of effective-one-body waveforms
- pySEOBNR: a software package for the next generation of effective-one-body multipolar waveform models