2008/04/30 by Francois Foucart, François Foucart, Lawrence E. Kidder +3 · 2 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Astrophysics #Binary black hole #Binary number #Black hole (networking) #Computer science #Conformal map #Conservative vector field #Convergence (economics) #Eccentricity (behavior) #Geophysics and Gravity Measurements #Gravitational wave #Mathematical analysis #Mathematics #Mechanics #Metric (unit) #Neutron star #Physics #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #Star (game theory) #astro-ph #gr-qc
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevd.77.124051
published as Phys.Rev.D77:124051,2008 · 19 pages, 11 figures, Modified to match final PRD version
openalex publication_date 2008/06/27 · arxiv created 2008/06/30 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We present a new numerical scheme to solve the initial value problem for black hole--neutron star binaries. This method takes advantage of the flexibility and fast convergence of a multidomain spectral representation of the initial data to construct high-accuracy solutions at a relatively low computational cost. We provide convergence tests of the method for both isolated neutron stars and irrotational binaries. In the second case, we show that we can resolve the small inconsistencies that are part of the quasiequilibrium formulation, and that these inconsistencies are significantly smaller than observed in previous works. The possibility of generating a wide variety of initial data is also demonstrated through two new configurations inspired by results from binary black holes. First, we show that choosing a modified Kerr-Schild conformal metric instead of a flat conformal metric allows for the construction of quasiequilibrium binaries with a spinning black hole. Second, we construct binaries in low-eccentricity orbits, which are a better approximation to astrophysical binaries than quasiequilibrium systems.