4,162 research outputs found
Simulating binary neutron stars: dynamics and gravitational waves
We model two mergers of orbiting binary neutron stars, the first forming a
black hole and the second a differentially rotating neutron star. We extract
gravitational waveforms in the wave zone. Comparisons to a post-Newtonian
analysis allow us to compute the orbital kinematics, including trajectories and
orbital eccentricities. We verify our code by evolving single stars and
extracting radial perturbative modes, which compare very well to results from
perturbation theory. The Einstein equations are solved in a first order
reduction of the generalized harmonic formulation, and the fluid equations are
solved using a modified convex essentially non-oscillatory method. All
calculations are done in three spatial dimensions without symmetry assumptions.
We use the \had computational infrastructure for distributed adaptive mesh
refinement.Comment: 14 pages, 16 figures. Added one figure from previous version;
corrected typo
Numerical evolutions of a black hole-neutron star system in full General Relativity: I. Head-on collision
We present the first simulations in full General Relativity of the head-on
collision between a neutron star and a black hole of comparable mass. These
simulations are performed through the solution of the Einstein equations
combined with an accurate solution of the relativistic hydrodynamics equations
via high-resolution shock-capturing techniques. The initial data is obtained by
following the York-Lichnerowicz conformal decomposition with the assumption of
time symmetry. Unlike other relativistic studies of such systems, no limitation
is set for the mass ratio between the black hole and the neutron star, nor on
the position of the black hole, whose apparent horizon is entirely contained
within the computational domain. The latter extends over ~400M and is covered
with six levels of fixed mesh refinement. Concentrating on a prototypical
binary system with mass ratio ~6, we find that although a tidal deformation is
evident the neutron star is accreted promptly and entirely into the black hole.
While the collision is completed before ~300M, the evolution is carried over up
to ~1700M, thus providing time for the extraction of the gravitational-wave
signal produced and allowing for a first estimate of the radiative efficiency
of processes of this type.Comment: 16 pages, 12 figure
"Mariage des Maillages": A new numerical approach for 3D relativistic core collapse simulations
We present a new 3D general relativistic hydrodynamics code for simulations
of stellar core collapse to a neutron star, as well as pulsations and
instabilities of rotating relativistic stars. It uses spectral methods for
solving the metric equations, assuming the conformal flatness approximation for
the three-metric. The matter equations are solved by high-resolution
shock-capturing schemes. We demonstrate that the combination of a finite
difference grid and a spectral grid can be successfully accomplished. This
"Mariage des Maillages" (French for grid wedding) approach results in high
accuracy of the metric solver and allows for fully 3D applications using
computationally affordable resources, and ensures long term numerical stability
of the evolution. We compare our new approach to two other, finite difference
based, methods to solve the metric equations. A variety of tests in 2D and 3D
is presented, involving highly perturbed neutron star spacetimes and
(axisymmetric) stellar core collapse, demonstrating the ability to handle
spacetimes with and without symmetries in strong gravity. These tests are also
employed to assess gravitational waveform extraction, which is based on the
quadrupole formula.Comment: 29 pages, 16 figures; added more information about convergence tests
and grid setu
A cloudy Vlasov solution
We propose to integrate the Vlasov-Poisson equations giving the evolution of
a dynamical system in phase-space using a continuous set of local basis
functions. In practice, the method decomposes the density in phase-space into
small smooth units having compact support. We call these small units ``clouds''
and choose them to be Gaussians of elliptical support. Fortunately, the
evolution of these clouds in the local potential has an analytical solution,
that can be used to evolve the whole system during a significant fraction of
dynamical time. In the process, the clouds, initially round, change shape and
get elongated. At some point, the system needs to be remapped on round clouds
once again. This remapping can be performed optimally using a small number of
Lucy iterations. The remapped solution can be evolved again with the cloud
method, and the process can be iterated a large number of times without showing
significant diffusion. Our numerical experiments show that it is possible to
follow the 2 dimensional phase space distribution during a large number of
dynamical times with excellent accuracy. The main limitation to this accuracy
is the finite size of the clouds, which results in coarse graining the
structures smaller than the clouds and induces small aliasing effects at these
scales. However, it is shown in this paper that this method is consistent with
an adaptive refinement algorithm which allows one to track the evolution of the
finer structure in phase space. It is also shown that the generalization of the
cloud method to the 4 dimensional and the 6 dimensional phase space is quite
natural.Comment: 46 pages, 25 figures, submitted to MNRA
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