Gravitational waves from binary neutron star mergers with a spectral equation of state
- University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH (United States); University of New Hampshire
- University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH (United States)
- Washington State University, Pullman, WA (United States)
- Cornell University, Ithaca, NY (United States)
- Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute), Potsdam (Germany)
- California Institute of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States)
In numerical simulations of binary neutron star systems, the equation of state of the dense neutron star matter is an important factor in determining both the physical realism and the numerical accuracy of the simulations. Some equations of state used in simulations are C2 or smoother in the pressure/density relationship function, such as a polytropic equation of state, but may not have the flexibility to model stars or remnants of different masses while keeping their radii within known astrophysical constraints. Other equations of state, such as tabular or piece-wise polytropic, may be flexible enough to model additional physics and multiple stars' masses and radii within known constraints, but are not as smooth, resulting in additional numerical error. We will study in this paper a recently developed family of equation of state, using a spectral expansion with sufficient free parameters to allow for a larger flexibility than current polytropic equations of state, and with sufficient smoothness to reduce numerical errors compared to tabulated or piece-wise polytropic equations of state. We perform simulations at three mass ratios with a common chirp mass, using two distinct spectral equations of state, and at multiple numerical resolutions. We evaluate the gravitational waves produced from these simulations, comparing the phase error between resolutions and equations of state, as well as with respect to analytical models. From our simulations we estimate that the phase difference at merger for binaries with a dimensionless weighted tidal deformability difference greater than Δ$$\tilde{Λ}$$=55 can be captured by the SpEC code for these equations of state.
- Research Organization:
- University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Nuclear Physics (NP); National Science Foundation (NSF); National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); ACCESS
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0020435; AC02-05CH11231
- OSTI ID:
- 2406192
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 2473959
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review. D., Journal Name: Physical Review. D. Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 110; ISSN 2470-0010
- Publisher:
- American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
A Comparison of Grid-based and SPH Binary Mass-transfer and Merger Simulations
A Comparison of Grid-based and SPH Binary Mass-transfer and Merger Simulations