English

Coalescing Binary Neutron Stars

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology 2010-04-06 v1 Astrophysics

Abstract

Coalescing compact binaries with neutron star or black hole components provide the most promising sources of gravitational radiation for detection by the LIGO/VIRGO/GEO/TAMA laser interferometers now under construction. This fact has motivated several different theoretical studies of the inspiral and hydrodynamic merging of compact binaries. Analytic analyses of the inspiral waveforms have been performed in the Post-Newtonian approximation. Analytic and numerical treatments of the coalescence waveforms from binary neutron stars have been performed using Newtonian hydrodynamics and the quadrupole radiation approximation. Numerical simulations of coalescing black hole and neutron star binaries are also underway in full general relativity. Recent results from each of these approaches will be described and their virtues and limitations summarized.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.gr-qc/9902019,
  title  = {Coalescing Binary Neutron Stars},
  author = {Frederic A. Rasio and Stuart L. Shapiro},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:gr-qc/9902019},
  year   = {2010}
}

Comments

Invited Topical Review paper to appear in Classical and Quantum Gravity, 35 pages, including 5 figures