26,103 research outputs found
Binary Induced Neutron-Star Compression, Heating, and Collapse
We analyze several aspects of the recently noted neutron star collapse
instability in close binary systems. We utilize (3+1) dimensional and spherical
numerical general relativistic hydrodynamics to study the origin, evolution,
and parametric sensitivity of this instability. We derive the modified
conditions of hydrostatic equilibrium for the stars in the curved space of
quasi-static orbits. We examine the sensitivity of the instability to the
neutron star mass and equation of state. We also estimate limits to the
possible interior heating and associated neutrino luminosity which could be
generated as the stars gradually compress prior to collapse. We show that the
radiative loss in neutrinos from this heating could exceed the power radiated
in gravity waves for several hours prior to collapse. The possibility that the
radiation neutrinos could produce gamma-ray (or other electromagnetic) burst
phenomena is also discussed.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figure
Binary-Induced Gravitational Collapse: A Trivial Example
We present a simple model illustrating how a highly relativistic, compact
object which is stable in isolation can be driven dynamically unstable by the
tidal field of a binary companion. Our compact object consists of a
test-particle in a relativistic orbit about a black hole; the binary companion
is a distant point mass. Our example is presented in light of mounting
theoretical opposition to the possibility that sufficiently massive, binary
neutron stars inspiraling from large distance can collapse to form black holes
prior to merger. Our strong-field model suggests that first order
post-Newtonian treatments of binaries, and stability analyses of binary
equilibria based on orbit-averaged, mean gravitational fields, may not be
adequate to rule out this possibility.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, RevTeX, to appear in Phys. Rev. D, Jan 15 199
Exterior optical cloaking and illusions by using active sources: a boundary element perspective
Recently, it was demonstrated that active sources can be used to cloak any
objects that lie outside the cloaking devices [Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{103},
073901 (2009)]. Here, we propose that active sources can create illusion
effects, so that an object outside the cloaking device can be made to look like
another object. invisibility is a special case in which the concealed object is
transformed to a volume of air. From a boundary element perspective, we show
that active sources can create a nearly "silent" domain which can conceal any
objects inside and at the same time make the whole system look like an illusion
of our choice outside a virtual boundary. The boundary element method gives the
fields and field gradients (which can be related to monopoles and dipoles) on
continuous curves which define the boundary of the active devices. Both the
cloaking and illusion effects are confirmed by numerical simulations
Tidal Stabilization of Rigidly Rotating, Fully Relativistic Neutron Stars
It is shown analytically that an external tidal gravitational field increases
the secular stability of a fully general relativistic, rigidly rotating neutron
star that is near marginal stability, protecting it against gravitational
collapse. This stabilization is shown to result from the simple fact that the
energy required to raise a tide on such a star, divided by the
square of the tide's quadrupole moment , is a decreasing function of the
star's radius , (where, as changes, the
star's structure is changed in accord with the star's fundamental mode of
radial oscillation). If were positive, the tidal
coupling would destabilize the star. As an application, a rigidly rotating,
marginally secularly stable neutron star in an inspiraling binary system will
be protected against secular collapse, and against dynamical collapse, by tidal
interaction with its companion. The ``local-asymptotic-rest-frame'' tools used
in the analysis are somewhat unusual and may be powerful in other studies of
neutron stars and black holes interacting with an external environment. As a
byproduct of the analysis, in an appendix the influence of tidal interactions
on mass-energy conservation is elucidated.Comment: Revtex, 10 pages, 2 figures; accepted for publication in Physical
Review D. Revisions: Appendix rewritten to clarify how, in Newtonian
gravitation theory, ambiguity in localization of energy makes interaction
energy ambiguous but leaves work done on star by tidal gravity unambiguous.
New footnote 1 and Refs. [11] and [19
General-relativistic coupling between orbital motion and internal degrees of freedom for inspiraling binary neutron stars
We analyze the coupling between the internal degrees of freedom of neutron
stars in a close binary, and the stars' orbital motion. Our analysis is based
on the method of matched asymptotic expansions and is valid to all orders in
the strength of internal gravity in each star, but is perturbative in the
``tidal expansion parameter'' (stellar radius)/(orbital separation). At first
order in the tidal expansion parameter, we show that the internal structure of
each star is unaffected by its companion, in agreement with post-1-Newtonian
results of Wiseman (gr-qc/9704018). We also show that relativistic interactions
that scale as higher powers of the tidal expansion parameter produce
qualitatively similar effects to their Newtonian counterparts: there are
corrections to the Newtonian tidal distortion of each star, both of which occur
at third order in the tidal expansion parameter, and there are corrections to
the Newtonian decrease in central density of each star (Newtonian ``tidal
stabilization''), both of which are sixth order in the tidal expansion
parameter. There are additional interactions with no Newtonian analogs, but
these do not change the central density of each star up to sixth order in the
tidal expansion parameter. These results, in combination with previous analyses
of Newtonian tidal interactions, indicate that (i) there are no large
general-relativistic crushing forces that could cause the stars to collapse to
black holes prior to the dynamical orbital instability, and (ii) the
conventional wisdom with respect to coalescing binary neutron stars as sources
of gravitational-wave bursts is correct: namely, the finite-stellar-size
corrections to the gravitational waveform will be unimportant for the purpose
of detecting the coalescences.Comment: 22 pages, 2 figures. Replaced 13 July: proof corrected, result
unchange
Stability of coalescing binary stars against gravitational collapse: hydrodynamical simulations
We perform simulations of relativistic binary stars in post-Newtonian gravity
to investigate their dynamical stability prior to merger against gravitational
collapse in a tidal field. In general, our equations are only strictly accurate
to first post-Newtonian order, but they recover full general relativity for
spherical, static stars. We study both corotational and irrotational binary
configurations of identical stars in circular orbits. We adopt a soft,
adiabatic equation of state with , for which the onset of
instability occurs at a sufficiently small value of the compaction that a
post-Newtonian approximation is quite accurate. For such a soft equation of
state there is no innermost stable circular orbit, so that we can study
arbitrarily close binaries. This choice still allows us to study all the
qualitative features exhibited by any adiabatic equation of state regarding
stability against gravitational collapse. We demonstrate that, independent of
the internal stellar velocity profile, the tidal field from a binary companion
stabilizes a star against gravitational collapse.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures, RevTex, to appear in Phys. Rev.
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