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Newtonian and Post-Newtonian Calculations of Coalescing Compact Binaries

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Relativistic Astrophysics

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Abstract

Coalescing binary neutron stars are important sources of gravitational waves that should become detectable with the laser interferometers now being built as part of LIGO, VIRGO and GEO. Post-Newtonian (PN) approximation methods have been used to calculate waveform templates in the low-frequency, slow-inspiral phase of the binary evolution. These theoretical templates can be used to extract parameters such as the neutron star (NS) masses and spins. In the slowinspiral phase the two stars are still well separated and can be treated essentially as point masses. Near the end of the coalescence, however, hydrodynamic effects and the interior structure of the stars play an increasingly important role. Hydrodynamics becomes dominant when the two stars finally merge together into a single object. The shape of the corresponding burst of gravitational waves provides a direct probe into the interior structure of a NS and the nuclear equation of state (EOS). The interpretation of the gravitational waveform data will require detailed theoretical models of the complicated 3D hydrodynamic processes involved. This review summarizes recent work on the hydrodynamic aspects of NS binary coalescence. Newtonian and, more recently, relativistic calculations have been performed. The methods include both approximate quasi-analytic techniques and large-scale numerical hydrodynamics calculations on supercomputers. Also included here is a brief discussion of coalescing white dwarf (WD) binaries, which are important sources of very low-frequency gravitational waves, potentially detectable by LISA.

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  1. Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA

    Frederic A. Rasio

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Rasio, F.A. (1998). Newtonian and Post-Newtonian Calculations of Coalescing Compact Binaries. In: Riffert, H., Ruder, H., Nollert, HP., Hehl, F.W. (eds) Relativistic Astrophysics. Vieweg+Teubner Verlag, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-663-11294-5_12

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