Search results for " relativity"
showing 10 items of 1158 documents
Dynamically Stable Ergostars Exist: General Relativistic Models and Simulations
2019
We construct the first dynamically stable ergostars (equilibrium neutron stars that contain an ergoregion) for a compressible, causal equation of state. We demonstrate their stability by evolving both strict and perturbed equilibrium configurations in full general relativity for over a hundred dynamical timescales ($\gtrsim 30$ rotational periods) and observing their stationary behavior. This stability is in contrast to earlier models which prove radially unstable to collapse. Our solutions are highly differentially rotating hypermassive neutron stars with a corresponding spherical compaction of $C=0.3$. Such ergostars can provide new insights into the geometry of spacetimes around highly c…
Great Impostors: Extremely Compact, Merging Binary Neutron Stars in the Mass Gap Posing as Binary Black Holes
2019
Can one distinguish a binary black hole undergoing a merger from a binary neutron star if the individual compact companions have masses that fall inside the so-called mass gap of $3-5\ M_\odot$? For neutron stars, achieving such masses typically requires extreme compactness and in this work we present initial data and evolutions of binary neutron stars initially in quasiequilibrium circular orbits having a compactness $C=0.336$. These are the most compact, nonvacuum, quasiequilibrium binary objects that have been constructed and evolved to date, including boson stars. The compactness achieved is only slightly smaller than the maximum possible imposed by causality, $C_{\rm max}=0.355$, which…
Effects of spin on magnetized binary neutron star mergers and jet launching
2019
Events GW170817 and GRB 170817A provide the best confirmation so far that compact binary mergers where at least one of the companions is a neutron star (NS) can be the progenitors of short gamma-ray bursts (sGRBs). An open question for GW170817 remains the values and impact of the initial NS spins. The initial spins could possibly affect the remnant black hole (BH) mass and spin, the remnant disk and the formation and lifetime of a jet and its luminosity. Here we summarize our general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations of spinning, NS binaries undergoing merger and delayed collapse to a BH. The binaries consist of two identical NSs, modeled as $\Gamma=2$ polytropes, in quasicircul…
Effect of spin on the inspiral of binary neutron stars
2019
We perform long-term simulations of spinning binary neutron stars, with our highest dimensionless spin being $\chi \sim 0.32$. To assess the importance of spin during the inspiral we vary the spin, and also use two equations of state, one that consists of plain nuclear matter and produces compact stars (SLy), and a hybrid one that contains both nuclear and quark matter and leads to larger stars (ALF2). Using high resolution that has grid spacing $\Delta x\sim 98$ m on the finest refinement level, we find that the effects of spin in the phase evolution of a binary system can be larger than the one that comes from tidal forces. Our calculations demonstrate explicitly that although tidal effec…
Rotational properties of hypermassive neutron stars from binary mergers
2016
Determining the differential-rotation law of compact stellar objects produced in binary neutron stars mergers or core-collapse supernovae is an old problem in relativistic astrophysics. Addressing this problem is important because it impacts directly on the maximum mass these objects can attain and hence on the threshold to black-hole formation under realistic conditions. Using the results from a large number of numerical simulations in full general relativity of binary neutron star mergers described with various equations of state and masses, we study the rotational properties of the resulting hypermassive neutron stars. We find that the angular-velocity distribution shows only a modest de…
Universal Relations for Gravitational-Wave Asteroseismology of Protoneutron Stars
2019
State-of-the-art numerical simulations of core-collapse supernovae reveal that the main source of gravitational waves is the excitation of proto-neutron star modes during post-bounce evolution. In this work we derive universal relations that relate the frequencies of the most common oscillation modes observed, i.e. g-modes, p-modes and the f-mode, with fundamental properties of the system, such as the surface gravity of the proto-neutron star or the mean density in the region enclosed by the shock. These relations are independent of the equation of state, the neutrino treatment, and the progenitor mass and hence can be used to build methods to infer proto-neutron star properties from gravit…
Alfven QPOs in magnetars in the anelastic approximation
2009
We perform two-dimensional simulations of Alfven oscillations in magnetars, modeled as relativistic stars with a dipolar magnetic field. We use the anelastic approximation to general relativistic magnetohydrodynamics, which allows for an effective suppression of fluid modes and an accurate description of Alfven waves. In addition, we compute Alfven oscillation frequencies along individual magnetic field lines with a semi-analytic approach, employing a short-wavelength approximation. Our main findings are as follows: a) we confirm the existence of two families of quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs), with harmonics at integer multiples of the fundamental frequency, as was found in the linear s…
Synchronised gravitational atoms from mergers of bosonic stars
2020
If ultralight bosonic fields exist in Nature as dark matter, superradiance spins down rotating black holes (BHs), dynamically endowing them with equilibrium bosonic clouds, here dubbed synchronised gravitational atoms (SGAs). The self-gravity of these same fields, on the other hand, can lump them into (scalar or vector) horizonless solitons known as bosonic stars (BSs). We show that the dynamics of BSs yields a new channel forming SGAs. We study BS binaries that merge to form spinning BHs. After horizon formation, the BH spins up by accreting the bosonic field, but a remnant lingers around the horizon. If just enough angular momentum is present, the BH spin up stalls precisely as the remnan…
Wormholes supported by hybrid metric-Palatini gravity
2012
Recently, a modified theory of gravity was presented, which consists of the superposition of the metric Einstein-Hilbert Lagrangian with an $f(\cal R)$ term constructed \`{a} la Palatini. The theory possesses extremely interesting features such as predicting the existence of a long-range scalar field, that explains the late-time cosmic acceleration and passes the local tests, even in the presence of a light scalar field. In this brief report, we consider the possibility that wormholes are supported by this hybrid metric-Palatini gravitational theory. We present here the general conditions for wormhole solutions according to the null energy conditions at the throat and find specific examples…
Magneto-elastic torsional oscillations of magnetars
2010
We extend a general-relativistic ideal magneto-hydrodynamical code to include the effects of elasticity. Using this numerical tool we analyse the magneto-elastic oscillations of highly magnetised neutron stars (magnetars). In simulations without magnetic field we are able to recover the purely crustal shear oscillations within an accuracy of about a few per cent. For dipole magnetic fields between 5 x 10^13 and 10^15 G the Alfv\'en oscillations become modified substantially by the presence of the crust. Those quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) split into three families: Lower QPOs near the equator, Edge QPOs related to the last open field line and Upper QPOs at larger distance from the equa…