Binary black holes in circular orbits.: II.: Numerical methods and first results -: art. no. 044021

We present the first results from a new method for computing spacetimes representing corotating binary black holes in circular orbits. The method is based on the assumption of exact equilibrium. It uses the standard 3+1 decomposition of Einstein equations and conformal flatness approximation for the 3-metric. Contrary to previous numerical approaches to this problem, we do not solve only the constraint equations but rather a set of five equations for the lapse function, the conformal factor and the shift vector. The orbital velocity is unambiguously determined by imposing that, at infinity, the metric behaves like the Schwarzschild one, a requirement which is equivalent to the virial theorem. The numerical scheme has been implemented using multi-domain spectral methods and passed numerous tests. A sequence of corotating black holes of equal mass is calculated. Defining the sequence by requiring that the ADM mass decrease is equal to the angular momentum decrease multiplied by the orbital angular velocity, it is found that the area of the apparent horizons is constant along the sequence. We also find a turning point in the ADM mass and angular momentum curves, which may be interpreted as an innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO). The values of the global quantities at the ISCO, especially the orbital velocity, are in much better agreement with those from third post-Newtonian calculations than with those resulting from previous numerical approaches.