Python Open Source Waveform ExtractoR: An open source, python package to monitor and post-process numerical relativity simulations
Author(s)    : Daniel Johnson <dsjohns2@illinois.edu>
               E. A. Huerta <elihu@illinois.edu>
               Roland Haas <rhaas@ncsa.illinois.edu>
Maintainer(s): Daniel Johnson, E. A. Huerta, Roland Haas
License      : <PICK ONE>

1. Purpose

Numerical simulations of Einstein's field equations provide unique insights
into the physics of compact objects moving at relativistic speeds, and which
are driven by strong gravitational interactions. Numerical relativity has
played a key role to firmly establish gravitational wave astrophysics as a new
field of research, and it is now paving the way to establish whether
gravitational wave radiation emmitted from compact binary mergers is
accompanied by electromagnetic and astro-particle counterparts. As numerical
relativity continues to blend with routine gravitational wave data analyses to
validate the discovery of gravitational wave transients, it is essential to
develop open source tools to streamline these studies. Motivated by our own
experience as users and developers of the open source, community software the
Einstein Toolkit, we present an open source, python package
to monitor the status and progress of numerical relativity simulations, and to
post-process the data products of these simulations to compute the
gravitational wave strain at future null infinity. This new software fills in a
critical void in the arsenal of tools provided by the Einstein Toolkit
Consortium to the numerical relativity community.