244 research outputs found
Vacuum discharge as a possible source of gamma-ray bursts
We propose that spontaneous particle--anti-particle pair creations from the
discharged vacuum caused by the strong interactions in dense matter are major
sources of -ray bursts. Two neutron star collisions or black
hole-neutron star mergers at cosmological distance could produce a compact
object with its density exceeding the critical density for pair creations. The
emitted anti-particles annihilate with corresponding particles at the ambient
medium. This releases a large amount of energy. We discuss the spontaneous
pair creations within two neutron star collision and estimate the
exploded energy from annihilation processes. The total energy could
be around erg depending on the impact parameter of
colliding neutron stars. This value fits well into the range of the initial
energy of the most energetic -ray bursts.Comment: 12 pages, Latex, 2 figures included; replaced by the revised version,
Int. J. Mod. Phys. E in pres
Stationary structures of irrotational binary systems -- models for close binary systems of compact stars
We propose a new numerical method to calculate irrotational binary systems
composed of compressible gaseous stars in Newtonian gravity. Assuming
irrotationality, i.e. vanishing of the vorticity vector everywhere in the star
in the inertial frame, we can introduce the velocity potential for the flow
field. Using this velocity potential we can derive a set of basic equations for
stationary states which consist of (i) the generalized Bernoulli equation, (ii)
the Poisson equation for the Newtonian gravitational potential and (iii) the
equation for the velocity potential with the Neumann type boundary condition.
We succeeded in developing a new code to compute numerically exact solutions to
these equations for the first time. Such irrotational configurations of binary
systems are appropriate models for realistic neutron star binaries composed of
inviscid gases, just prior to coalescence of two stars caused by emission of
gravitational waves. Accuracies of our numerical solutions are so high that we
can compute reliable models for fully deformed final stationary configurations
and hence determine the inner most stable circular orbit of binary neutron star
systems under the approximations of weak gravity and inviscid limit.Comment: 32 pages, 25 bitmapped ps files, to appear in ApJ supplemen
Angular Momentum Transfer in the Binary X-ray Pulsar GX 1+4
We describe three presentations relating to the X-ray pulsar GX 1+4 at a
workshop on magnetic fields and accretion at the Astrophysical Theory Centre,
Australian National University on 1998, November 12-13. Optical and X-ray
spectroscopy indicate that GX 1+4 is seen through a cloud of gravitationaly
bound matter. We discuss an unstable negative feedback mechanism (originally
proposed by Kotani et al, 1999), based on X-ray heating of this matter which
controls the accretion rate when the source is in a low X-ray luminosity state.
A deep minimum lasting ~6 hours occurred during observations with the RXTE
satellite over 1996, July 19-21. The shape of the X-ray pulses changed
remarkably from before to after the minimum. These changes may be related to
the transition from neutron star spin-down to spin-up which occurred at about
the same time. Smoothed particle hydrodynamic simulations of the effect of
adding matter with opposite angular momentum to an existing disc, show that it
is possible for a number of concentric rings with alternating senses of
rotation to co-exist in a disc. This could provide an explanation for the
step-like changes in Pdot which are observed in GX 1+4. Changes at the inner
boundary of the disc occur at the same timescale as that imposed at the outer
boundary. Reversals of material torque on the neutron star occur at a minimum
in L_X.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures; accepted for publication by PAS
Evidence for an Intense Neutrino Flux during -Process Nucleosynthesis?
We investigate the possibility that neutrino capture on heavy nuclei competes
with beta decay in the environment where the -Process elements are
synthesized. We find that such neutrino capture is not excluded by existing
abundance determinations. We show that inclusion of significant neutrino
capture on the (neutron number) N=82 waiting point nuclei can allow the
inferred abundances of these species to provide a good fit to steady weak (beta
decay plus neutrino capture) flow equilibrium. In fact, for particular choices
of neutrino flux conditions, this fit is improved over the case where nuclei
change their charge by beta decay alone. However, this improved fit can be
realized only if neutrino capture plays a negligible role in nuclear decay back
toward stability. We discuss the implications of these considerations for
current proposed sites and models for -Process nucleosynthesis.Comment: 10 pages, plain tex, submitted to ApJ
Equation-of-state dependence of the gravitational-wave signal from the ring-down phase of neutron-star mergers
Neutron-star (NS) merger simulations are conducted for 38 representative
microphysical descriptions of high-density matter in order to explore the
equation-of-state dependence of the postmerger ring-down phase. The formation
of a deformed, oscillating, differentially rotating very massive NS is the
typical outcome of the coalescence of two stars with 1.35 for most
candidate EoSs. The oscillations of this object imprint a pronounced peak in
the gravitational-wave (GW) spectra, which is used to characterize the emission
for a given model. The peak frequency of this postmerger GW signal correlates
very well with the radii of nonrotating NSs, and thus allows to constrain the
high-density EoS by a GW detection. In the case of 1.35-1.35
mergers the peak frequency scales particularly well with the radius of a NS
with 1.6 , where the maximum deviation from this correlation is only
60 meters for fully microphysical EoSs which are compatible with NS
observations. Combined with the uncertainty in the determination of the peak
frequency it appears likely that a GW detection can measure the radius of a 1.6
NS with an accuracy of about 100 to 200 meters. We also uncover
relations of the peak frequency with the radii of nonrotating NSs with 1.35
or 1.8 , with the radius or the central energy density
of the maximum-mass Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff configuration, and with the
pressure or sound speed at a fiducial rest-mass density of about twice nuclear
saturation density. Furthermore, it is found that a determination of the
dominant postmerger GW frequency can provide an upper limit for the maximum
mass of nonrotating NSs. The prospects for a detection of the postmerger GW
signal and a determination of the dominant GW frequency are estimated to be in
the range of 0.015 to 1.2 events per year with the upcoming Advanced LIGO
detector.Comment: 29 pages, 28 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Merger Sites of Double Neutron Stars and their Host Galaxies
Using the StarTrack population synthesis code we analyze the formation
channels possibly available to double neutron star binaries and find that they
can be richer than previously thought. We identify a group of short lived,
tight binaries, which do not live long enough to escape their host galaxies,
despite their large center-of-mass velocities. We present our most recent
results on all possible evolutionary paths leading to the formation of double
neutron stars, calculate their coalescence rates, and also revisit the question
of the distribution of merger sites around host galaxies. For a wide variety of
binary evolution models and galaxy potentials, we find that most of neutron
star mergers take place within galaxies. Our results stem from allowing for
radial and common envelope evolution of helium-rich stars (testable in the
future with detailed stellar-structure and hydrodynamic calculations) and
indicate that double neutron star binaries may not be excluded as Gamma-Ray
Burst (GRB) progenitors solely on the basis of their spatial distribution
around host galaxies. We also find, in contrast to Bethe & Brown (1998), that
in a significant fraction of common envelope (CE) phases neutron stars do not
accrete enough material to become black holes, and thus the channels involving
CEs are still open for the formation of double neutron stars.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, ApJ Letters 2002, accepte
Truncated post-Newtonian neutron star model
As a preliminary step towards simulating binary neutron star coalescing
problem, we test a post-Newtonian approach by constructing a single neutron
star model. We expand the Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkov equation of hydrostatic
equilibrium by the power of , where is the speed of light, and
truncate at the various order. We solve the system using the polytropic
equation of state with index and 3, and show how this
approximation converges together with mass-radius relations. Next, we solve the
Hamiltonian constraint equation with these density profiles as trial functions,
and examine the differences in the final metric. We conclude the second
`post-Newtonian' approximation is close enough to describe general relativistic
single star. The result of this report will be useful for further binary
studies.
(Note to readers) This paper was accepted for publication in Physical Review
D. [access code dsj637]. However, since I was strongly suggested that the
contents of this paper should be included as a section in our group's future
paper, I gave up the publication.Comment: 5 pages, RevTeX, 3 eps figs, epsf.sty, accepted for publication in
PRD (Brief Report), but will not appea
Newtonian Hydrodynamics of the Coalescence of Black Holes with Neutron Stars I: Tidally locked binaries with a stiff equation of state
We present a detailed study of the hydrodynamical interactions in a Newtonian
black hole-neutron star binary during the last stages of inspiral. We consider
close binaries which are tidally locked, use a stiff equation of state (with an
adiabatic index Gamma=3) throughout, and explore the effect of different
initial mass ratios on the evolution of the system. We calculate the
gravitational radiation signal in the quadrupole approximation. Our
calculations are carried out using a Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) code.Comment: Replaces previous version which had figures separate from the text of
the paper. Now 47 pages long with 19 embedded figures (the figures are the
same, they were renumbered) Uses aaspp4.st
General-Relativistic MHD for the Numerical Construction of Dynamical Spacetimes
We assemble the equations of general relativistic magnetohydrodynamics (MHD)
in 3+1 form. These consist of the complete coupled set of Maxwell equations for
the electromagnetic field, Einstein's equations for the gravitational field,
and the equations of relativistic MHD for a perfectly conducting ideal gas. The
adopted form of the equations is suitable for evolving numerically a
relativistic MHD fluid in a dynamical spacetime characterized by a strong
gravitational field.Comment: 8 pages; scheduled for March 10 issue of Ap
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