Binary Neutron Star Systems Research Articles

Neutron Star–Neutron Star and Neutron Star–Black Hole Mergers: Multiband Observations and Early Warnings

Abstract The detections of gravitational waves (GWs) from binary neutron star systems and neutron star–black hole systems provide new insights into dense matter properties in extreme conditions and associated high-energy astrophysical processes. However, currently, information about the neutron star equation of state (EoS) is extracted with very limited precision. Meanwhile, the fruitful results from the serendipitous discovery of the γ-ray burst alongside GW170817 show the necessity of early warning alerts. Accurate measurements of the matter effects and sky location could be achieved by joint GW detection from space and ground. In our work, based on two example cases, GW170817 and GW200105, we use the Fisher information matrix analysis to investigate the multiband synergy between the space-borne decihertz GW detectors and the ground-based Einstein Telescope (ET). We especially focus on the parameters pertaining to the spin-induced quadrupole moment, tidal deformability, and sky localization. We demonstrate that (i) only with the help of multiband observations we can constrain the quadrupole parameter; and (ii) with the inclusion of decihertz GW detectors, the errors of tidal deformability would be a few times smaller, indicating that many more EoSs could be excluded; (iii) with the inclusion of ET, the sky localization improves by about 1 order of magnitude. Furthermore, we have systematically compared the different limits from four planned decihertz detectors and adopting two widely used waveform models.

Gravitational waves from binary neutron stars

I review the current global status of research on gravitational waves emitted from mergers of binary neutron star systems, focusing on general-relativistic simulations and their use to interpret data from the gravitational-wave detectors, especially in relation to the equation of state of compact stars.

Gravitational waves at the first post-Newtonian order with the Weyssenhoff fluid in Einstein–Cartan theory

The generation of gravitational waves from a post-Newtonian source endowed with a quantum spin, modeled by the Weyssenhoff fluid, is investigated in the context of Einstein–Cartan theory at the first post-Newtonian level by resorting to the Blanchet–Damour formalism. After having worked out the basic principles of the hydrodynamics in Einstein–Cartan framework, we study the Weyssenhoff fluid within the post-Newtonian approximation scheme. The complexity of the underlying dynamical equations suggests to employ a discrete description via the point-particle limit, a procedure which permits the analysis of inspiralling spinning compact binaries. We then provide a first application of our results by considering binary neutron star systems.

Bayesian parameter estimation using conditional variational autoencoders for gravitational-wave astronomy

Gravitational wave (GW) detection is now commonplace and as the sensitivity of the global network of GW detectors improves, we will observe $\mathcal{O}(100)$s of transient GW events per year. The current methods used to estimate their source parameters employ optimally sensitive but computationally costly Bayesian inference approaches where typical analyses have taken between 6 hours and 5 days. For binary neutron star and neutron star black hole systems prompt counterpart electromagnetic (EM) signatures are expected on timescales of 1 second -- 1 minute and the current fastest method for alerting EM follow-up observers, can provide estimates in $\mathcal{O}(1)$ minute, on a limited range of key source parameters. Here we show that a conditional variational autoencoder pre-trained on binary black hole signals can return Bayesian posterior probability estimates. The training procedure need only be performed once for a given prior parameter space and the resulting trained machine can then generate samples describing the posterior distribution $\sim 6$ orders of magnitude faster than existing techniques.

Thermal Effects on Tidal Deformability of a Coalescing Binary Neutron Star System

Published from 1956, the Bulgarian Journal of Physics accepts articles in the fields of: General and Mathematical Physics; Particle Physics and Field Theory; Atomic and Molecular Physics; Nuclear Physics; Fundamental Areas of Phenomenology; Theory of Relativity and Astrophysics; Condensed Matter, Statistical Physics; Cross-Disciplinary Physics; and Related Areas of Science and Technology.

Neutron Stars and Gravitational Waves: The Key Role of Nuclear Equation of State

Neutron stars are the densest known objects in the universe and an ideal laboratory for the strange physics of super-condensed matter. Theoretical studies in connection with recent observational data of isolated neutron stars, as well as binary neutron stars systems, offer an excellent opportunity to provide robust solutions on the dense nuclear problem. In the present work, we review recent studies concerning the applications of various theoretical nuclear models on a few recent observations of binary neutron stars or neutron-star–black-hole systems. In particular, using a simple and well-established model, we parametrize the stiffness of the equation of state with the help of the speed of sound. Moreover, in comparison to the recent observations of two events by LIGO/VIRGO collaboration, GW170817 and GW190425, we suggest possible robust constraints. We also concentrate our theoretical study on the resent observation of a compact object with mass ∼2.59−0.09+0.08M⊙ (GW190814 event), as a component of a system where the main companion was a black hole with mass ∼23M⊙. There is scientific debate concerning the identification of the low mass component, as it falls into the neutron-star–black-hole mass gap. This is an important issue since understanding the nature of GW190814 event will offer rich information concerning the upper limit of the speed of sound in dense matter and the possible phase transition into other degrees of freedom. We systematically study the tidal deformability of a possible high-mass candidate existing as an individual star or as a component in a binary neutron star system. Finally, we provide some applications of equations of state of hot, dense nuclear matter in hot neutron stars (nonrotating and rapidly rotating with the Kepler frequency neutron stars), protoneutron stars, and binary neutron star merger remnants.

Is GW170817 a multimessenger neutron star-primordial black hole merger?

We investigate the possibility of the gravitational-wave event GW170817 being a light, solar-mass black hole (BH) — neutron star (NS) merger. We explore two exotic scenarios involving primordial black holes (PBH) that could produce such an event, taking into account available observational information on NGC 4993. First, we entertain the possibility of dynamical NS-PBH binary formation where a solar-mass PBH and a NS form a binary through gravitational interaction. We find that while dynamical NS-PBH formation could account for the GW170817 event, the rate is highly dependent on unknown density contrast factors and could potentially be affected by galaxy mergers. We also find that PBH-PBH binaries would likely have a larger merger rate, assuming the density contrast boost factor of an order similar to the NS-PBH case. These exotic merger formations could provide new channels to account for the volumetric rate of compact-object mergers reported by LIGO/Virgo. Secondly, we consider the case where one of the NS's in a binary NS system is imploded by a microscopic PBH. We find that the predicted rate for NS implosion into a BH is very small, at least for the specific environment of NGC 4993. We discuss how our analysis can be applied to similar existing (GW190425 and GW190814) and future observations.

Binary Comb Models for FRB 121102

Abstract The first repeating fast radio burst source, FRB 121102, is observed to emit bursts with a periodically modulated rate. We show that FRB 121102 can be interpreted as an interacting neutron star binary system with an orbital period of ∼159 days. We develop a binary comb model by introducing an eccentricity into the orbit. Besides the original funnel mode of the binary comb model, which was applied to FRB 180916.J0158+65 by Ioka & Zhang, we also identify two new modes of the binary comb model, i.e., the τ-crossing mode and the inverse funnel mode, and apply them to interpret FRB 121102. These new developments expand the applicable parameter space, allowing the companion star to be a massive star, a massive black hole, or a supermassive black hole, with the latter two having larger parameter spaces. These models are also consistent with other observations, such as the persistent bright radio counterpart associated with the source. We also argue that the observed frequency dependence of the active window does not disfavor the binary comb model, in contrast to recent claims, and propose two possible scenarios to interpret the data.

Neutrino pair annihilation (nu {bar{nu }}rightarrow e^-e^+) in the presence of quintessence surrounding a black hole

Quintessence fields, introduced to explain the speed-up of the Universe, might affect the geometry of spacetime surrounding black holes, as compared to the standard Schwarzschild and Kerr geometries. In this framework, we study the neutrino pairs annihilation into electron-positron pairs (nu {bar{nu }}rightarrow e^-e^+) near the surface of a neutron star, focusing, in particular, on the Schwarzschild-like geometry in presence of quintessence fields. The effect of the latter is to increase the photon-sphere radius (R_{ph}), increasing in such a way the maximum energy deposition rate near to R_{ph}. The rate turns out to be several orders of magnitude greater than the rate computed in the framework of General Relativity. These results might provide a rising in the GRBs energy emitted from a close binary neutron star system and might be used to constraints the parameters of the quintessence model. Finally we theoretically study the effects of rotation on the neutrino energy deposition.

Fallback Supernova Assembly of Heavy Binary Neutron Stars and Light Black Hole–Neutron Star Pairs and the Common Stellar Ancestry of GW190425 and GW200115

Abstract The detection of the unusually heavy binary neutron star merger GW190425 marked a stark contrast to the mass distribution from known Galactic pulsars in double neutron star binaries and gravitational-wave source GW170817. We suggest here a formation channel for heavy binary neutron stars and light black hole–neutron star binaries in which massive helium stars, which had their hydrogen envelope removed during a common-envelope phase, remain compact and avoid mass transfer onto the neutron star companion, possibly avoiding pulsar recycling. We present three-dimensional simulations of the supernova explosion of the massive stripped helium star and follow the mass fallback evolution and the subsequent accretion onto the neutron star companion. We find that fallback leads to significant mass growth in the newly formed neutron star. This can explain the formation of heavy binary neutron star systems such as GW190425, as well as predict the assembly of light black hole–neutron star systems such as GW200115. This formation avenue is consistent with the observed mass–eccentricity correlation of binary neutron stars in the Milky Way. Finally, avoiding mass transfer suggests an unusually long spin-period population of pulsar binaries in our Galaxy.

Probing dipole radiation from binary neutron stars with ground-based laser-interferometer and atom-interferometer gravitational-wave observatories

Atom-interferometer gravitational-wave (GW) observatory, as a new design of ground-based GW detector for the near future, is sensitive at a relatively low frequency for GW observations. Taking the proposed atom interferometer Zhaoshan Long-baseline Atom Interferometer Gravitation Antenna (ZAIGA), and its illustrative upgrade (Z+) as examples, we investigate how the atom interferometer will complement ground-based laser interferometers in testing the gravitational dipole radiation from binary neutron star (BNS) mergers. A test of such kind is important for a better understanding of the strong equivalence principle laying at the heart of Einstein's general relativity. To obtain a statistically sound result, we sample BNS systems according to their merger rate and population, from which we study the expected bounds on the parameterized dipole radiation parameter $B$. Extracting BNS parameters and the dipole radiation from the combination of ground-based laser interferometers and the atom-interferometer ZAIGA/Z+, we are entitled to obtain tighter bounds on $B$ by a few times to a few orders of magnitude, compared to ground-based laser interferometers alone, ultimately reaching the levels of $|B| \lesssim 10^{-9}$ (with ZAIGA) and $|B| \lesssim 10^{-10}$ (with Z+).

Effects of dark matter on the in-spiral properties of the binary neutron stars

ABSTRACT Using the relativistic mean-field model, we calculate the properties of binary neutron star (BNS) in the in-spiral phase. Assuming the dark matter (DM) particles are accreted inside the neutron star (NS) due to its enormous gravitational field, the mass M, radius R, tidal deformability λ, and dimensionless tidal deformability Λ are calculated at different DM fractions. The value of M, R, λ, and Λ decreases with the increase of DM percentage inside the NS. The in-spiral phase properties of the BNS are explored within the post-Newtonian (PN) formalism, as it is suitable up to the last orbits in the in-spiral phase. We calculate the strain amplitude of the polarization waveform h+ and h×, (2,2) mode waveform h22, orbital phase Φ, frequency of the gravitational wave f, and PN parameter x with DM as an extra candidate inside the NS. The magnitude of f, Φ, and x are almost the same for all assumed forces; however, the in-spiral time duration in the last orbit is different. We find that the BNS with soft equation of state and a high fraction of DM sustains more time in their in-spiral phase. We suggest that one should take DM inside the NS when they modelling the in-spiral waveforms for the BNS systems.

Impacts of overlapping gravitational-wave signals on the parameter estimation: Toward the search for cosmological backgrounds

Third-generation gravitational wave detectors, such as the Einstein Telescope and Cosmic Explorer, will detect a bunch of gravitational-wave (GW) signals originating from the coalescence of binary neutron star (BNS) and binary black hole (BBH) systems out to higher redshifts, $z\ensuremath{\sim}5--10$. There is a potential concern that some of the GW signals detected at a high statistical significance eventually overlap with each other, and the parameter estimation of such an overlapping system can differ from the one expected from a single event. Also, there are certainly overlapping systems in which one of the overlapping events has a low signal-to-noise ratio $\ensuremath{\lesssim}4$, and is thus unable to be clearly detected. Those systems will potentially be misidentified with a single GW event, and the estimated parameters of binary GWs can be biased. We estimate the occurrence rate of those overlapping events. We find that the numbers of overlapping events are $\ensuremath{\sim}200$ per day for BNSs and a few per hour for BBHs. Then we study the statistical impacts of these overlapping GWs on a parameter estimation based on the Fisher matrix analysis. Our finding is that the overlapping signals produce neither large statistical errors nor serious systematic biases on the parameters of binary systems, unless the coalescence time and the redshifted chirp masses of the two overlapping GWs are very close to each other, i.e., $|{\mathcal{M}}_{z1}\ensuremath{-}{\mathcal{M}}_{z2}|\ensuremath{\lesssim}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}4}({10}^{\ensuremath{-}1})\text{ }\text{ }{M}_{\ensuremath{\bigodot}}$ and $|{t}_{\mathrm{c}1}\ensuremath{-}{t}_{\mathrm{c}2}|\ensuremath{\lesssim}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}2}({10}^{\ensuremath{-}1})\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{s}$ for BNSs (BBHs). The occurrence rate of such a closely overlapping event is shown to be much smaller than one per year with the third-generation detectors.

Gravitational-wave Asteroseismology with f-modes from Neutron Star Binaries at the Merger Phase

Abstract Gravitational-wave signals from coalescing binary neutron stars (BNSs) can yield important information about the properties of nuclear-matter equation of state. We investigate a direct link between the frequency of the quadrupolar 2 f-mode oscillation (f 2f ) of nonrotating and rotating neutron stars calculated by a nonlinear hydrodynamics code in the conformally flat approximation and the gravitational-wave frequency associated with the peak amplitude ( f max ) of binary neutron stars from a set of publicly available simulations. We find that f max and f 2f differ by about 1%, on average, across 45 equal-mass systems with different total mass and equations of state. Interestingly, assuming that the gravitational-wave frequency is still approximately equal to twice the orbital frequency f orb near the merger, the result indicates that the condition for tidal resonance ( ∣ m ∣ f orb ) m = 2 = f 2 f is satisfied to high accuracy near the merger. Moreover, the well-established universal relation between f max and the tidal deformability of equal-mass binary systems can now be explained by a similar relation between f 2f and the tidal deformability of isolated neutron stars. For unequal-mass binaries, f max increasingly deviates from f 2f of the two stars as the mass ratio decreases from unity. Therefore, it is possible to relate the gravitational-wave signal at the merger of a BNS system directly to the fundamental oscillation modes and the mass ratio. This work potentially brings gravitational-wave asteroseismology to the late-inspiral and merger phases of BNSs.

Short gamma-ray burst jet propagation in binary neutron star merger environments

ABSTRACT The multimessenger event GW170817/GRB 170817A confirmed that binary neutron star (BNS) mergers can produce short gamma-ray burst (SGRB) jets. This evidence promoted new investigations on the mechanisms through which a BNS merger remnant can launch such a powerful relativistic outflow and on the propagation of the latter across the surrounding post-merger environment. In particular, great strides have been made in jet propagation models, establishing connections between the initial jet launching conditions, including the incipient jet launching time (with respect to merger) and the injection parameters, and the observable SGRB prompt and afterglow emission. However, present semi-analytical models and numerical simulations (with one notable exception) adopt simple handmade prescriptions to account for the post-merger environment, lacking a direct association with any specific merging BNS system. Here, we present the first three-dimensional relativistic hydrodynamics simulations of incipient SGRB jets propagating through a post-merger environment that is directly imported from the outcome of a previous general relativistic BNS merger simulation. Our results show that the evolution and final properties of the jet can be largely affected by the anisotropies and the deviations from axisymmetry and homologous expansion characterizing more realistic BNS merger environments. In addition, we find that the inclusion of the gravitational pull from the central compact object, often overlooked, can have a major impact. Finally, we consider different jet launching times referred to the same BNS merger model and discuss the consequences for the ultimate jet properties.

Source term method for binary neutron stars initial data

The initial condition problem for a binary neutron star system requires a Poisson equation solver for the velocity potential with a Neumann-like boundary condition on the surface of the star. Difficulties that arise in this boundary value problem are: (a) the boundary is not known a priori, but constitutes part of the solution of the problem; (b) various terms become singular at the boundary. In this work, we present a new method to solve the fluid Poisson equation for irrotational/spinning binary neutron stars. The advantage of the new method is that it does not require complex fluid surface fitted coordinates and it can be implemented in a Cartesian grid, which is a standard choice in numerical relativity calculations. This is accomplished by employing the source term method proposed by Towers, where the boundary condition is treated as a jump condition and is incorporated as additional source terms in the Poisson equation, which is then solved iteratively. The issue of singular terms caused by vanishing density on the surface is resolved with an additional separation that shifts the computation boundary to the interior of the star. We present two-dimensional tests to show the convergence of the source term method, and we further apply this solver to a realistic three-dimensional binary neutron star problem. By comparing our solution with the one coming from the initial data solver cocal, we demonstrate agreement to approximately 1%. Our method can be used in other problems with non-smooth solutions like in magnetized neutron stars.

Convolutional neural networks for the detection of the early inspiral of a gravitational-wave signal

GW170817 has led to the first example of multi-messenger astronomy with observations from gravitational wave interferometers and electromagnetic telescopes combined to characterise the source. However, detections of the early inspiral phase by the gravitational wave detectors would allow the observation of the earlier stages of the merger in the electromagnetic band, improving multi-messenger astronomy and giving access to new information. In this paper, we introduce a new machine-learning-based approach to produce early-warning alerts for an inspiraling binary neutron star system, based only on the early inspiral part of the signal. We give a proof of concept to show the possibility to use a combination of small convolutional neural networks trained on the whitened detector strain in the time domain to detect and classify early inspirals. Each of those is targeting a specific range of chirp masses dividing the binary neutron star category into three sub-classes: light, intermediate and heavy. In this work, we focus on one LIGO detector at design sensitivity and generate noise from the design power spectral density. We show that within this setup it is possible to produce an early alert up to 100 seconds before the merger for the best-case scenario. We also present some future upgrades that will enhance the detection capabilities of our convolutional neural networks. Finally, we also show that the current number of detections for a realistic binary neutron star population is comparable to that of matched filtering and that there is a high probability to detect GW170817- and GW190425-like events at design sensitivity.

Fast Ejecta as a Potential Way to Distinguish Black Holes from Neutron Stars in High-mass Gravitational-wave Events

Abstract High-mass gravitational-wave events in the neutron-star mass range, such as GW190425, have recently started to be detected by the LIGO/Virgo detectors. If the masses of the two binary components fall in the neutron-star mass range, such a system is typically classified as a binary neutron-star system, although the detected gravitational-wave signal may be too noisy to clearly establish a neutron-star nature of the high-mass component in the binary and rule out a black hole–neutron star system for such an event. We show that high-mass binary neutron-star mergers with a very massive neutron-star primary close to the maximum-mass limit, m 1 ≳ 2.2 M ⊙, produce fast dynamical mass ejecta from the spin-up of the primary star at merger. By simulating the merger of black hole–neutron star systems of exactly the same masses and spins, we show that these fast ejecta are entirely absent if the primary is instead a black hole. In addition, we find that both systems leave almost identical amounts of baryon mass behind, which is not immediately accreted by the black hole. This implies that both systems will likely have comparable electromagnetic afterglow emission stemming from the remnant disk. Hence, fast ejecta at merger have the potential to distinguish neutron stars from black holes in high-mass mergers, although these ejecta may be challenging to detect observationally.

On the Detectability of Ultracompact Binary Pulsar Systems

Abstract Using neural networks, we integrate the ability to account for Doppler smearing due to a pulsar’s orbital motion with the pulsar population synthesis package psrpoppy to develop accurate modeling of the observed binary pulsar population. As a first application, we show that binary neutron star systems where the two components have highly unequal mass are, on average, easier to detect than systems that are symmetric in mass. We then investigate the population of ultracompact (1.5 minutes ≤ P b ≤ 15 minutes) neutron star–white dwarf (NS–WD) and double neutron star (DNS) systems, which are promising sources for the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna gravitational-wave detector. Given the nondetection of these systems in radio surveys thus far, we estimate a 95% confidence upper limit of ∼1450 and ∼1100 ultracompact NS–WD and DNS systems in the Milky Way that are beaming toward the Earth, respectively. We also show that using survey integration times in the range 20 s–200 s with time-domain resampling will maximize the signal-to-noise ratio as well as the probability of detection of these ultracompact binary systems. Among all the large-scale radio pulsar surveys, those that are currently being carried out using archival data collected with the Arecibo radio telescope have a ∼50%–80% chance of detecting at least one of these systems using current integration integration times and ∼80%–95% using optimal integration times in the next several years.

Constraints on the Time Variation of the Gravitational Constant Using Gravitational Wave Observations of Binary Neutron Stars.

We propose a method to constrain the variation of the gravitational constant G with cosmic time using gravitational wave (GW) observations of merging binary neutron stars. The method essentially relies on the fact that the maximum and minimum allowed masses of neutron stars at a particular cosmic epoch have a simple dependence on the value of G at that epoch.GWs carry an imprint of the value of G at the time of the merger. Thus, if the value of G at merger is significantly different from its current value, the masses of the neutron stars inferred from the GW observations will be inconsistent with the theoretically allowed range. This enables us to place bounds on the variation of G between the merger epoch and the present epoch. Using the observation of the binary neutron star system GW170817, we constrain the fractional difference in G between the merger and the current epoch to be in the range -1≲ΔG/G≲8. Assuming a monotonic variation in G, this corresponds to a bound on the average rate of change of -7×10^{-9} yr^{-1}≤G[over ˙]/G≤5×10^{-8} yr^{-1} between these epochs. Future observations will put tight constraints on the deviation of G over vast cosmological epochs not probed by other observations.