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Merging neutron stars. 1. Initial results for coalescence of noncorotating systemsWe present three-dimensional Newtonian simulations of the coalescence of two neutron stars, using a smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) code. We begin the simulations with the two stars in a hard, circular binary, and have them spiral together as angular momentum is lost through gravitational radiation at the rate predicted by modeling the system as two point masses. We model the neutron stars as hard polytropes (gamma = 2.4) of equal mass, and investigate the effect of the initial spin of the two stars on the coalescence. The process of coalescence, from initial contact to the formation of an axially symmetric object, takes only a few orbital periods. Some of the material from the two neutron stars is shed, forming a thick disk around the central, coalesced object. The mass of this disk is dependent on the initial neutron star spins; higher spin rates result in greater mass loss and thus more massive disks. For spin rates that are most likely to be applicable to real systems, the central coalesced object has a mass of 2.4 solar mass, which is tantalizingly close to the maximum mass allowed by any neutron star equation of state for an object that is supported in part by rotation. Using a realistic nuclear equation of state, we estimate the temperature of the material after the coalescence. We find that the central object is at a temperature of approximately 10 MeV, while the disk is heated by shocks to a temperature of 2 to 4 MeV.
Document ID
19950029374
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Davies, M. B.
(California Inst. of Tech., Pasadena, CA United States)
Benz, W.
(Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ United States)
Piran, T.
(Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA United States)
Thielemann, F. K.
(Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA United States)
Date Acquired
August 16, 2013
Publication Date
August 20, 1994
Publication Information
Publication: The Astrophysical Journal
Volume: 431
Issue: 2 pt
ISSN: 0004-637X
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Accession Number
95A60973
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAG5-1904
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSF AST-9206378
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSF AST-89-13799
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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