Binary Neutron Stars in General Relativity: Quasi-Equilibrium Models

1997/04/08 by T. W. Baumgarte, Thomas W. Baumgarte, Gregory B. Cook +6 · 6 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #astro-ph #gr-qc

paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.79.1182

published as Phys.Rev.Lett. 79 (1997) 1182-1185 · 4 pages, 3 figures, RevTeX

arxiv created 1997/04/08 · openalex publication_date 1997/08/18 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

We perform fully relativistic calculations of binary neutron stars in quasi-equilibrium circular orbits. We integrate Einstein's equations together with the relativistic equation of hydrostatic equilibrium to solve the initial value problem for equal-mass binaries of arbitrary separation. We construct sequences of constant rest mass and identify the innermost stable circular orbit and its angular velocity. We find that the quasi-equilibrium maximum allowed mass of a neutron star in a close binary is slightly larger than in isolation.

Cited by

• The central density of neutron stars in close binaries
• Binary-induced gravitational collapse: A trivial example
• Corotating and irrotational binary black holes in quasicircular orbits
• Accurate evolutions of inspiralling neutron-star binaries: Prompt and delayed collapse to a black hole
• Black hole-neutron star binaries in general relativity: Quasiequilibrium formulation
• Newtonian hydrodynamics of the coalescence of black holes with neutron stars - IV. Irrotational binaries with a soft equation of state