On the Solution Space of Differentially Rotating Neutron Stars in General Relativity

A highly accurate, multi-domain spectral code is used in order to construct sequences of general relativistic, differentially rotating neutron stars in axisymmetry and stationarity. For bodies with a spheroidal topology and a homogeneous or an N=1 polytropic equation of state, we investigate the solution space corresponding to broad ranges of degree of differential rotation and stellar densities. In particular, starting from static and spherical configurations, we analyse the changes of the corresponding surface shapes as the rate of rotation is increased. For a sufficiently weak degree of differential rotation, the sequences terminate at a mass-shedding limit, while for moderate and strong rates of differential rotation, they exhibit a continuous parametric transition to a regime of toroidal fluid bodies. In this article, we concentrate on the appearance of this transition, analyse in detail its occurrence and show its relevance for the calculation of astrophysical sequences. Moreover, we find that the solution space contains various types of spheroidal configurations, which were not considered in previous work, mainly due to numerical limitations.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figures, version to be published in MNRAS ; no major changes with respect to v1: title, abstract and other things were modified to put more emphasis on general aspects of the wor

Maximum mass and stability of differentially rotating neutrons stars

We present our study of stability of differentially rotating, axisymmetric neutron stars described by a polytropic equation of state with $\Gamma = 2$. We focus on quasi-toroidal solutions with a degree of differential rotation $\widetilde A=1$. Our results show that for a wide range of parameters hypermassive, quasi-toroidal neutron stars are dynamically stable against quasi-radial perturbations, which may have implications for newly born neutron stars and binary neutron stars mergers.Comment: Presented at the 8th Conference of the Polish Society on Relativity, submitted to Acta Physica Polonica B Proceedings Supplemen

Last orbits of binary strange quark stars

We present the first relativistic calculations of the final phase of inspiral of a binary system consisting of two stars built predominantely of strange quark matter (strange quark stars). We study the precoalescing stage within the Isenberg-Wilson-Mathews approximation of general relativity using a multidomain spectral method. A hydrodynamical treatment is performed under the assumption that the flow is either rigidly rotating or irrotational, taking into account the finite density at the stellar surface -- a distinctive feature with respect to the neutron star case. The gravitational-radiation driven evolution of the binary system is approximated by a sequence of quasi-equilibrium configurations at fixed baryon number and decreasing separation. We find that the innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO) is given by an orbital instability both for synchronized and irrotational systems. This constrasts with neutron stars for which the ISCO is given by the mass-shedding limit in the irrotational case. The gravitational wave frequency at the ISCO, which marks the end of the inspiral phase, is found to be 1400 Hz for two irrotational 1.35 Msol strange stars and for the MIT bag model of strange matter with massless quarks and a bag constant B=60 MeV/fm^3. Detailed comparisons with binary neutrons star models, as well as with third order Post-Newtonian point-mass binaries are given.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures, improved conclusion and figures, references added, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Jacobi-like bar mode instability of relativistic rotating bodies

We perform some numerical study of the secular triaxial instability of rigidly rotating homogeneous fluid bodies in general relativity. In the Newtonian limit, this instability arises at the bifurcation point between the Maclaurin and Jacobi sequences. It can be driven in astrophysical systems by viscous dissipation. We locate the onset of instability along several constant baryon mass sequences of uniformly rotating axisymmetric bodies for compaction parameter $M/R = 0-0.275$. We find that general relativity weakens the Jacobi like bar mode instability, but the stabilizing effect is not very strong. According to our analysis the critical value of the ratio of the kinetic energy to the absolute value of the gravitational potential energy $(T/|W|)_{\rm crit}$ for compaction parameter as high as 0.275 is only 30% higher than the Newtonian value. The critical value of the eccentricity depends very weakly on the degree of relativity and for $M/R=0.275$ is only 2% larger than the Newtonian value at the onset for the secular bar mode instability. We compare our numerical results with recent analytical investigations based on the post-Newtonian expansion.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Detecting and reconstructing gravitational waves from the next galactic core-collapse supernova in the advanced detector era

We performed a detailed analysis of the detectability of a wide range of gravitational waves derived from core-collapse supernova simulations using gravitational-wave detector noise scaled to the sensitivity of the upcoming fourth and fifth observing runs of the Advanced LIGO, Advanced Virgo, and KAGRA. We use the coherent WaveBurst algorithm, which was used in the previous observing runs to search for gravitational waves from core-collapse supernovae. As coherent WaveBurst makes minimal assumptions on the morphology of a gravitational-wave signal, it can play an important role in the first detection of gravitational waves from an event in the Milky Way. We predict that signals from neutrino-driven explosions could be detected up to an average distance of 10 kpc, and distances of over 100 kpc can be reached for explosions of rapidly-rotating progenitor stars. An estimated minimum signal-to-noise ratio of 10–25 is needed for the signals to be detected. We quantify the accuracy of the waveforms reconstructed with coherent WaveBurst and we determine that the most challenging signals to reconstruct are those produced in long-duration neutrino-driven explosions, and models that form black holes a few seconds after the core bounce

Maximum Mass Of Differentially Rotating Strange Quark Stars

International audienceWe present the first fully relativistic numerical calculations of differentially rotating strange quark stars models for broad ranges of the maximum density and of the degree of differential rotation. Our simulations are performed with the very accurate and stable multi-domain spectral code FlatStar and use the MIT Bag model for describing strange quark matter. Our calculations, based on a thorough exploration of the solution space, show that the maximum mass of strange stars depends on both the degree of differential rotation and a type of solution, similar to neutron stars. The highest increase of the maximum mass (compared to the value for a non-rotating star) is obtained for models with a low degree of differential rotation. This highest mass is over four times larger than that of the equivalent non-rotating configuration. Comparing our results with calculations done for realistic models of neutron stars, we conclude that for small degrees of differential rotation, strange stars can sustain masses much larger than stars made from nuclear matter, which reinforces the hope of demonstrating, or of ruling out, the existence of strange matter through observation of the gravitational waves, gamma-rays, or neutrinos of the massive material object born from the merger of a compact binary system or during some supernova events