Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Apr 2002
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2002aps..aprs12010f&link_type=abstract
American Physical Society, April Meeting, Jointly Sponsored with the High Energy Astrophysics Division (HEAD) of the American As
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Numerical simulations of coalescing binary neutron stars performed by Wilson, Mathews, and Marronetti indicated that a binary companion could cause a stable neutron star to undergo gravitational collapse prior to merger if the neutron star is close to its maximum allowed mass. Subsequent studies by several authors failed to explain this surprising effect. Although Flanagan’s correction accounted for most of the effect, a small residual compression remained. This has prompted us to ask: what physical mechanism, if any, could cause binary-induced compression of a neutron star? We have found that a compressive force can exist when gravitomagnetic tidal fields, generated by the companion's orbital motion, couple to certain velocity patterns (or modes of stellar oscillation) in the neutron star. Specifically, we find that if one decomposes the star's fluid velocity into a sum over vector spherical harmonics, a radial compression force exists for certain vector harmonic indices. However, this force can only affect stability if the star is already very close to its maximum mass. We derive expressions for the evolution of the star's fundamental radial mode (along which compression and expansion occur) and the change in the central density. We also estimate how close a neutron star needs to be to its maximum mass in order for this compression to initiate gravitational collapse. Our analysis demonstrates techniques that can be applied to the study of relativistic tidal fields on various modes of stellar oscillation.
Favata Marc
Thorne Kip S.
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