Gravitational waves from binary neutron star inspirals have been detected along with the electromagnetic transients coming from the aftermath of the merger in GW170817. However, much is still unknown about the post-merger dynamics that connects these two sets of observables. This includes if, and when, the post-merger remnant star collapses to a black hole, and what are the necessary conditions to power a short gamma-ray burst, and other observed electromagnetic counterparts. Observing the collapse of the post-merger neutron star would shed led on these questions, constraining models for the short gamma-ray burst engine and the hot neutron star equation of state. In this work, we explore the scope of using gravitational wave detectors to measure the timing of the collapse either indirectly, by establishing the shut-off of the post-merger gravitational emission, or---more challengingly---directly, by detecting the collapse signal. For the indirect approach, we consider a kilohertz high-frequency detector design that utilises a previously studied coupled arm cavity and signal recycling cavity resonance. This design would give a signal-to-noise ratio of 0.5\,-\,8.6 (depending on the variation of waveform parameters) for a collapse gravitational wave signal occurring at 10\,ms post-merger of a binary at 50\,Mpc and with total mass $2.7 M_\odot$. For the direct approach, we propose a narrow-band detector design, utilising the sensitivity around the frequency of the arm cavity free spectral range. The proposed detector achieves a signal-to-noise ratio of 0.3\,-\,1.9, independent of the collapse time. This detector is limited by both the fundamental classical and quantum noise with the arm cavity power chosen as 10\,MW.
Critical phenomena in gravitational collapse opened a new mathematical vista into the theory of general relativity and may ultimately entail fundamental physical implication in observations. However, at present, the dynamics of critical phenomena in gravitational collapse scenarios are still largely unknown. My thesis seeks to understand the properties of the threshold in the solution space of the Einstein field equations between the black hole and neutron star phases, understand the properties of the neutron star critical solution and clarify the implication of these results on realistic astr…
General Relativistic Entropic Acceleration (GREA) gives a general framework in which to study multiple out-of-equilibrium phenomena in the context of general relativity, like the late accelerated expansion of the universe or the formation of galaxies and the large scale structure of the universe. Here we analyze the conditions for collapse of a star of degenerate neutrons in the presence of entropy production due to the gravitational collapse itself. We find that the final mass and radius of the neutron star differs from that obtained with the adiabatic Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff equation by a…
We reexamine the gravitational collapse of rotating neutron stars to black holes by new 3+1 numerical relativity simulations employing the Z4c formulation of Einstein equations, the moving puncture gauge conditions, and a conservative mesh refinement scheme for the general relativistic hydrodynamics. The end state of the collapse is compared to the vacuum spacetime resulting from the evolution of spinning puncture initial data. Using a local analysis for the metric fields, we demonstrate that the two spacetimes actually agree. Gravitational waveforms are analyzed in some detail. We connect the…
We study the neutron star axisymmetric critical solution previously found in the numerical studies of neutron star mergers. Using neutron star-like initial data and performing similar merger simulations, we demonstrate that the solution is indeed a semi-attractor on the threshold plane separating the basin of a neutron star and the basin of a black hole in the solution space of the Einstein equations. In order to explore the extent of the attraction basin of the neutron star semiattractor, we construct initial data phase spaces for these neutron star-like initial data. From these phase spaces,…
LIGO and Virgo recently observed the first binary neutron star merger, demonstrating that gravitational-waves offer the ability to probe how matter behaves in one of the most extreme environments in the Universe. However, the gravitational-wave signal emitted by an inspiraling binary neutron star system is only weakly dependent on the equation of state and extracting this information is challenging. Previous studies have focused mainly on binary systems where the neutron stars are spinning slowly and the main imprint of neutron star matter in the inspiral signal is due to tidal effects. For bi…
We discuss the stability and construct dynamical configurations describing the gravitational collapse of unstable neutron stars with realistic equations of state compatible with the recent LIGO-Virgo constraints. Unlike other works that consider the collapse of a stellar configuration without a priori knowledge if it is stable or unstable, we first perform a complete analysis on stellar stability for such equations of state. Negative values of the squared frequency of the fundamental mode indicate us radial instability with respect to the collapse of the unstable star to a black hole. We find …
We provide details and present additional results on the numerical study of the gravitational-wave emission from the collapse of neutron stars to rotating black holes in three dimensions. More specifically, we concentrate on the advantages and disadvantages of the use of the excision technique and on how alternative approaches to that of excision can be successfully employed. Furthermore, as a first step towards source-characterization, we present a systematic discussion of the influence that rotation and different perturbations have on the waveforms and hence on the energy emitted in gravitat…
Jin et al reported that axisymmetric simulations of NS-like objects with polytropic EOS undergo critical gravitational collapse. As the critical collapse observed via fine-tuning of the adiabatic index $Γ$, they conjecture that critical phenomena may occur in realistic astrophysical scenarios. To clarify the implications this numerical observation has on realistic astrophysical scenarios, here, we perform dynamical analysis on the structure of the critical collapse observed in the former work. We report the time scales and oscillation frequencies exhibited by the critical solution and compare …
In this work we construct families of anisotropic neutron stars for an equation of state compatible with the constraints of the gravitational-wave event GW170817 and for four anisotropy ansatze. Such stars are subjected to a radial perturbation in order to study their stability against radial oscillations and we develop a dynamical model to describe the non-adiabatic gravitational collapse of the unstable anisotropic configurations whose ultimate fate is the formation of a black hole. We find that the standard criterion for radial stability $dM/dρ_c >0$ is not always compatible with the calcul…
We found type I critical collapses of compact objects modeled by a polytropic equation of state (EOS) with polytropic index $Γ=2$ without the ultra-relativistic assumption. The object is formed in head-on collisions of neutron stars. Further we showed that the critical collapse can occur due to a change of the EOS, without fine tuning of initial data. This opens the possibility that a neutron star like compact object, not just those formed in a collision, may undergo a critical collapse in processes which slowly change the EOS, such as cooling.
We present a search for gravitational waves from merging binary neutron stars which have non-negligible eccentricity as they enter the LIGO observing band. We use the public Advanced LIGO data which covers the period from 2015 through 2017 and contains $\sim164$ days of LIGO-Hanford and LIGO-Livingston coincident observing time. The search was conducted using matched-filtering using the PyCBC toolkit. We find no significant binary neutron star candidates beyond GW170817, which has previously been reported by searches for binaries in circular orbits. We place a 90% upper limit of $\sim1700$ mer…
We report a new implementation for axisymmetric simulation in full general relativity. In this implementation, the Einstein equations are solved using the Nakamura-Shibata formulation with the so-called cartoon method to impose an axisymmetric boundary condition, and the general relativistic hydrodynamic equations are solved using a high-resolution shock-capturing scheme based on an approximate Riemann solver. As tests, we performed the following simulations: (i) long-term evolution of non-rotating and rapidly rotating neutron stars, (ii) long-term evolution of neutron stars of a high-amplitud…
We present a search for gravitational waves from double neutron star binaries inspirals in Advanced LIGO's first observing run. The search considers a narrow range of binary chirp masses motivated by the population of known double neutron star binaries in the nearby universe. This search differs from previously published results by providing the most sensitive published survey of neutron stars in Advanced LIGO's first observing run within this narrow mass range and including times when only one of the two LIGO detectors was in operation in the analysis. The search was sensitive to binary neutr…
We describe realistic observing scenarios for early warning detection of binary neutron star mergers with the current generation of ground-based gravitational-wave detectors as these approach design sensitivity. Using Fisher analysis, we estimate that Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo will detect one signal before merger in their fourth observing run provided they maintain a 70\% duty cycle. 60\% of all observations and 8\% of those detectable 20 seconds before merger will be localized to $\lesssim 100 \thinspace \mathrm{deg}^2$. If KAGRA is able to achieve a 25 Mpc horizon, these prospects inc…
It is shown that the theoretical arguments for the unavoidable collapse of massive stars, which are valid within standard general relativity, are not valid in extended gravity. In particular a calculation is reported of neutron stars within a theory obtained from an Einstein-Hilbert action involving a function of $R^{2}-1/2R_{μν}R^{μν}$ added to the Ricci scalar $R$. The calculation suggests that within that theory there are stable neutron stars with arbitrarily high baryon number.
We pursue a novel strategy towards a first detection of continuous gravitational waves from rapidly-rotating deformed neutron stars. Computational power is focused on a narrow region of signal parameter space selected by a strategically-chosen benchmark. We search data from the 2nd observing run of the LIGO Observatory with an optimised analysis run on graphics processing units. While no continuous waves are detected, the search achieves a sensitivity to gravitational wave strain of $h_0 = 1.01{\times}10^{-25}$ at 90% confidence, 24% to 69% better than past searches of the same parameter space…
We present studies of the collapse of neutron stars that undergo a hadron-quark phase transition. A spherical Lagrangian hydrodynamic code has been written. As initial condition we take different neutron star configurations taking into account its density, energy density and pressure distribution. The phase transition is imposed at different evolution times. We have found that a significant amount of matter on the surface can be ejected while the remaining star rings in the fundamental and first pressure modes.
Hypermassive neutron stars (HMNSs) are equilibrium configurations supported against collapse by rapid differential rotation and likely form as transient remnants of binary neutron star mergers. Though HMNSs are dynamically stable, secular effects such as viscosity or magnetic fields tend to bring HMNSs into uniform rotation and thus lead to collapse. We simulate the evolution of magnetized HMNSs in axisymmetry using codes which solve the Einstein-Maxwell-MHD system of equations. We find that magnetic braking and the magnetorotational instability (MRI) both contribute to the eventual collapse o…
Hypermassive neutron stars (HMNSs) -- equilibrium configurations supported against collapse by rapid differential rotation -- are possible transient remnants of binary neutron star mergers. Using newly developed codes for magnetohydrodynamic simulations in dynamical spacetimes, we are able to track the evolution of a magnetized HMNS in full general relativity for the first time. We find that secular angular momentum transport due to magnetic braking and the magnetorotational instability results in the collapse of an HMNS to a rotating black hole, accompanied by a gravitational wave burst. The …
The collapse of spherical neutron stars is studied in General Relativity. The initial state is a stable neutron star to which an inward radial kinetic energy has been added through some velocity profile. For two different equations of state and two different shapes of velocity profiles, it is found that neutron stars can collapse to black holes for high enough inward velocities, provided that their masses are higher than some minimal value, depending on the equation of state. For a polytropic equation of state of the form $p=Kρ^γ$, with $γ= 2$ it is found to be $1.16 (\frac{K}{0.1})^{0.5} \mso…
The next galactic core-collapse supernova (CCSN) has already exploded, and its electromagnetic (EM) waves, neutrinos, and gravitational waves (GWs) may arrive at any moment. We present an extensive study on the potential sensitivity of prospective detection scenarios for GWs from CCSNe within 5Mpc, using realistic noise at the predicted sensitivity of the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors for 2015, 2017, and 2019. We quantify the detectability of GWs from CCSNe within the Milky Way and Large Magellanic Cloud, for which there will be an observed neutrino burst. We also consider extreme…
We analyze several aspects of the recently noted neutron star collapse instability in close binary systems. We utilize (3+1) dimensional and spherical numerical general relativistic hydrodynamics to study the origin, evolution, and parametric sensitivity of this instability. We derive the modified conditions of hydrostatic equilibrium for the stars in the curved space of quasi-static orbits. We examine the sensitivity of the instability to the neutron star mass and equation of state. We also estimate limits to the possible interior heating and associated neutrino luminosity which could be gene…
We study the question of prompt vs. delayed collapse in the head-on collision of two neutron stars. We show that the prompt formation of a black hole is possible, contrary to a conjecture of Shapiro which claims that collapse is delayed until after neutrino cooling. We discuss the insight provided by Shapiro's conjecture and its limitation. An understanding of the limitation of the conjecture is provided in terms of the many time scales involved in the problem. General relativistic simulations in the Einstein theory with the full set of Einstein equations coupled to the general relativistic hy…
Search for continuous gravitational waves from neutron stars in five globular clusters with a phase-tracking hidden Markov model in the third LIGO observing run
We study the final state of the gravitational collapse of uniformly rotating supramassive neutron stars by axisymmetric simulations in full general relativity. The rotating stars provided as the initial condition are marginally stable against quasiradial gravitational collapse and its equatorial radius rotates with the Kepler velocity (i.e., the star is at the mass-shedding limit). To model the neutron stars, we adopt the polytropic equations of state for a wide range of the polytropic index as $n=2/3$, 4/5, 1, 3/2 and 2. We follow the formation and evolution of the black holes, and show that …
Using 250 neutron star merger simulations with microphysics, we explore for the first time the role of nuclear incompressibility in the prompt collapse threshold for binaries with different mass ratios. We demonstrate that observations of prompt collapse thresholds, either from binaries with two different mass ratios or with one mass ratio but combined with the knowledge of the maximum neutron star mass or compactness, will constrain the incompressibility at the maximum neutron star density, $K_{\rm max}$, to within tens of percent. This, otherwise inaccessible, measure of $K_{\rm max}$ can po…
It has been conjectured that in head-on collisions of neutron stars (NSs), the merged object would not collapse promptly even if the total mass is higher than the maximum stable mass of a cold NS. In this paper, we show that the reverse is true: even if the total mass is {\it less} than the maximum stable mass, the merged object can collapse promptly. We demonstrate this for the case of NSs with a realistic equation of state (the Lattimer-Swesty EOS) in head-on {\it and} near head-on collisions. We propose a ``Prompt Collapse Conjecture'' for a generic NS EOS for head on and near head-on colli…
In a certain class of scalar-Gauss-Bonnet gravity, the black holes and the neutron stars can undergo spontaneous scalarization -- a strong gravity phase transition triggered by a tachyonic instability due to the nonminimal coupling between the scalar field and the spacetime curvature. Studies of this phenomenon have, so far, been restricted mainly to the study of the tachyonic instability and stationary scalarized black holes and neutron stars. To date, no realistic physical mechanism for the formation of isolated scalarized black holes and neutron stars has been proposed. We study, for the fi…
Several applications of spectral methods to problems related to the relativistic astrophysics of compact objects are presented. Based on a proper definition of the analytical properties of regular tensorial functions we have developed a spectral method in a general sphericallike coordinate system. The applications include the investigation of spherically symmetric neutron star collapse as well as the solution of the coupled 2D-Einstein-Maxwell equations for magnetized, rapidly rotating neutron stars. In both cases the resulting codes are efficient and give results typically several orders of m…
Spontaneous wavefunction collapse models, like the Continuous Spontaneous Localization, are designed to suppress macroscopic superpositions, while preserving microscopic quantum phenomena. An observable consequence of collapse models is spontaneous heating of massive objects. Here we calculate the collapse-induced heating rate of astrophysical objects, and the corresponding equilibrium temperature. We apply these results to neutron stars, the densest phase of baryonic matter in the universe. Stronger collapse model parameters imply greater heating, allowing us to derive competitive bounds on m…
Gravitational wave interactions with a viscous fluid: Core collapse supernova, binary neutron star merger, and accretion around a black hole merger
Rhodes University（罗德斯大学）；National Institute for Theoretical and Computational Sciences (NITheCS)（国家理论与计算科学研究所）；University of South Africa（南非大学）；Luleå tekniska universitet（吕勒奥理工学院）
We perform 3D numerical simulations in full general relativity to study the stability of rapidly rotating, supramassive neutron stars at the mass-shedding limit to dynamical collapse. We adopt an adiabatic equation of state with $Γ= 2$ and focus on uniformly rotating stars. We find that the onset of dynamical instability along mass-shedding sequences nearly coincides with the onset of secular instability. Unstable stars collapse to rotating black holes within about one rotation period. We also study the collapse of stable stars which have been destabilized by pressure depletion (e.g. via a pha…
We present a systematic study of magnetised neutron star head on collisions. We investigate the resulting magnetic field geometries as the two neutron stars merge. Furthermore, we analyze the luminosity produced in these collisions and monitor the evolution of the magnetic fields from the time of merger until the subsequent production of a black hole. At the time of black hole formation the luminosity peaks and rings-down following the decay of the electromagnetic fields. A comparison is presented for three different cases, one where the initial magnetic field in both neutron stars is aligned,…
A hypermassive neutron star (HMNS) is a possible transient formed after the merger of a neutron star binary. In the latest magnetohydrodynamic simulations in full general relativity, we find that a magnetized HMNS undergoes `delayed' collapse to a rotating black hole (BH) as a result of angular momentum transport via magnetic braking and the magnetorotational instability. The outcome is a BH surrounded by a massive, hot torus with a collimated magnetic field. The torus accretes onto the BH at a quasi-steady accretion rate ~10 solar mass/s; the lifetime of the torus is ~10 ms. The torus has a t…
The joint detection of GW170817 and GRB 170817A opened the era of multi-messenger astronomy with gravitational waves (GWs) and provided the first direct probe that at least some binary neutron star (BNS) mergers are progenitors of short gamma-ray bursts (S-GRBs). In the next years, we expect to have more multi-messenger detections of BNS mergers, thanks to the increasing sensitivity of GW detectors. Here, we present a comprehensive study on the prospects for joint GW and electromagnetic observations of merging BNSs in the fourth LIGO--Virgo--KAGRA observing run with \emph{Fermi}, \emph{Swift},…
Coalescing compact binaries with neutron star (NS) or black hole (BH) components are important sources of gravitational waves for the laser-interferometer detectors currently under construction, and may also be sources of gamma-ray bursts at cosmological distances. This paper focuses on the final hydrodynamic coalescence and merger of NS--NS binaries, and addresses the question of whether black hole formation is the inevitable final fate of these systems.
We study the evolution in axisymmetry of accretion disks formed self-consistently through collapse of magnetized hypermassive neutron stars to black holes. Such stars can arise following the merger of binary neutron stars. They are differentially rotating, dynamically stable, and have rest masses exceeding the mass limit for uniform rotation. However, hypermassive neutron stars are secularly unstable to collapse due to MHD-driven angular momentum transport. The rotating black hole which forms in this process is surrounded by a hot, massive, magnetized torus and a magnetic field collimated alon…
The inspiral and merger of a binary neutron star (NSNS) can lead to the formation of a hypermassive neutron star (HMNS). As the HMNS loses thermal pressure due to neutrino cooling and/or centrifugal support due to gravitational wave (GW) emission, and/or magnetic breaking of differential rotation it will collapse to a black hole. To assess the importance of shock-induced thermal pressure and cooling, we adopt an idealized equation of state and perform NSNS simulations in full GR through late inspiral, merger, and HMNS formation, accounting for cooling. We show that thermal pressure contributes…
We present a new three-dimensional general-relativistic hydrodynamic evolution scheme coupled to dynamical spacetime evolutions which is capable of efficiently simulating stellar collapse, isolated neutron stars, black hole formation, and binary neutron star coalescence. We make use of a set of adapted curvi-linear grids (multipatches) coupled with flux-conservative cell-centered adaptive mesh refinement. This allows us to significantly enlarge our computational domains while still maintaining high resolution in the gravitational-wave extraction zone, the exterior layers of a star, or the regi…
We study the interaction of massless scalar fields with self-gravitating neutron stars by means of fully dynamic numerical simulations of the Einstein-Klein-Gordon perfect fluid system. Our investigation is restricted to spherical symmetry and the neutron stars are approximated by relativistic polytropes. Studying the nonlinear dynamics of isolated neutron stars is very effectively performed within the characteristic formulation of general relativity, in which the spacetime is foliated by a family of outgoing light cones. We are able to compactify the entire spacetime on a computational grid a…
We present an effective, low-dimensionality frequency-domain template for the gravitational wave signal from the stellar remnants from binary neutron star coalescence. A principal component decomposition of a suite of numerical simulations of binary neutron star mergers is used to construct orthogonal basis functions for the amplitude and phase spectra of the waveforms for a variety of neutron star equations of state and binary mass configurations. We review the phenomenology of late merger / post-merger gravitational wave emission in binary neutron star coalescence and demonstrate how an unde…
Short gamma-ray bursts (sGRBs) show a large diversity in their properties. This suggests that the observed phenomenon can be caused by different "central engines" or that the engine produces a variety of outcomes depending on its parameters, or possibly both. The most popular engine scenario, the merger of two neutron stars, has received support from the recent Fermi and INTEGRAL detection of a burst of gamma rays (GRB170817A) following the neutron star merger GW170817, but at the moment it is not clear how peculiar this event potentially was. Several sGRBs engine models involve the collapse o…
Search for continuous gravitational waves from neutron stars in five globular clusters in the first part of the fourth LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA observing run
University of Michigan（密歇根大学）；Universitat de les Illes Balears（巴利阿里群岛大学）；LIGO Livingston Observatory（LIGO利文斯顿天文台）；Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais（国家空间研究所）；University of British Columbia（不列颠哥伦比亚大学）；University of Melbourne（墨尔本大学）
Numerical simulations of binary neutron stars by Wilson, Mathews, and Marronetti indicated that neutron stars that are stable in isolation can be made to collapse to black holes when placed in a binary. This claim was surprising as it ran counter to the Newtonian expectation that a neutron star in a binary should be more stable, not less. After correcting an error found by Flanagan, Wilson and Mathews found that the compression of the neutron stars was significantly reduced but not eliminated. This has motivated us to ask the following general question: Under what circumstances can general-rel…
We study the lifetimes of the remnant produced by the merger of two neutron stars and revisit the determination of the threshold mass to prompt collapse, $M_{\rm th}$. Using a fully general-relativistic numerical approach and a novel method for a rigorous determination of $M_{\rm th}$, we show that a nonlinear universal relation exists between the threshold mass and the maximum compactness. For the temperature-dependent equations of state considered here, our results improve a similar linear relation found recently with methods that are less accurate but yield quantitatively similar results. F…
An Optically Targeted Search for Gravitational Waves emitted by Core-Collapse Supernovae during the Third Observing Run of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo
The threshold mass for prompt collapse in binary neutron star mergers was empirically found to depend on the stellar properties of the maximum-mass non-rotating neutron star model. Here we present a semi-analytic derivation of this empirical relation which suggests that it is rather insensitive to thermal effects, to deviations from axisymmetry and to the exact rotation law in merger remnants. We utilize axisymmetric, cold equilibrium models with differential rotation and determine the threshold mass for collapse from the comparison between an empirical relation that describes the angular mome…
We perform hydrodynamical simulations of neutron-star mergers for a large sample of temperature-dependent, nuclear equations of state, and determine the threshold mass above which the merger remnant promptly collapses to form a black hole. We find that, depending on the equation of state, the threshold mass is larger than the maximum mass of a non-rotating star in isolation by between 30 and 70 per cent. Our simulations also show that the ratio between the threshold mass and maximum mass is tightly correlated with the compactness of the non-rotating maximum-mass configuration. We speculate on …
Axisymmetric numerical simulations of rotating stellar core collapse to a neutron star are performed in the framework of full general relativity. The so-called Cartoon method, in which the Einstein field equations are solved in the Cartesian coordinates and the axisymmetric condition is imposed around the $y=0$ plane, is adopted. The hydrodynamic equations are solved in the cylindrical coordinates (on the $y=0$ plane in the Cartesian coordinates) using a high-resolution shock-capturing scheme with the maximum grid size $(2500,2500)$. A parametric equation of state is adopted to model collapsin…
We investigate the properties of the event horizon in the merger between a large black hole and a smaller neutron star. We find that, if the star is compact enough, then, in its rest frame a horizon begins to grow inside the star before it merges with the black hole, in a manner analogous to the growth of the event horizon in stellar collapse. We may say that, ahead of its fall into the larger black hole, the neutron star begins to become a black hole itself. We discuss how the phenomenon, even if not directly observable, can be invariantly characterized. We demonstrate it quantitatively by ex…
A degenerate neutron gas in equilibrium with a background of electrons and protons in a magnetic field exerts its pressure anisotropically, having a smaller value perpendicular than along the magnetic field. For critical fields the magnetic pressure may produce the vanishing of the equatorial pressure of the neutron gas, and the outcome could be a transverse collapse of the star. This fixes a limit to the fields to be observable in stable pulsars as a function of their density. The final structure left over after the implosion might be a mixed phase of nucleons and meson ($π^{\pm,0},κ^{\pm,0}$…
Inspiraling and merging binary neutron stars are not only important source of gravitational waves, but also promising candidates for coincident electromagnetic counterparts. These systems are thought to be progenitors of short gamma-ray bursts (sGRBs). We have shown previously that binary neutron star mergers that undergo {\it delayed} collapse to a black hole surrounded by a {\it weighty} magnetized accretion disk can drive magnetically-powered jets. We now perform magnetohydrodynamic simulations in full general relativity of binary neutron stars mergers that undergo {\it prompt} collapse to …
Neutron stars (NSs) in the astrophysical universe are often surrounded by accretion disks. Accretion of matter onto an NS may increase its mass above the maximum value allowed by its equation of state, inducing its collapse to a black hole (BH). Here we study this process for the first time, in three-dimensions, and in full general relativity. By considering three initial NS configurations, each with and without a surrounding disk (of mass ~7% M_{NS}), we investigate the effect of the accretion disk on the dynamics of the collapse and its imprint on both the gravitational wave (GW) and electro…
We present new results on the dynamics and gravitational-wave emission from the collapse of differentially rotating neutron stars. We have considered a number of polytropic stellar models having different values of the dimensionless angular momentum J/M^2, where J and M are the asymptotic angular momentum and mass of the star, respectively. For neutron stars with J/M^2<1, i.e., "sub-Kerr" models, we were able to find models that are dynamically unstable and that collapse promptly to a rotating black hole. Both the dynamics of the collapse and the consequent emission of gravitational waves rese…
We describe directed searches for continuous gravitational waves from twelve well localized non-pulsing candidate neutron stars in young supernova remnants using data from Advanced LIGO's second observing run. We assumed that each neutron star is isolated and searched a band of frequencies from 15 to 150\,Hz, consistent with frequencies expected from known young pulsars. After coherently integrating spans of data ranging from 12.0 to 55.9 days using the F-statistic and applying data-based vetoes, we found no evidence of astrophysical signals. We set upper limits on intrinsic gravitational wave…
We investigate spherically-symmetric, general relativistic systems of collapsing perfect fluid distributions. We consider neutron star models that are driven to collapse by the addition of an initially "in-going" velocity profile to the nominally static star solution. The neutron star models we use are Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff solutions with an initially isentropic, gamma-law equation of state. The initial values of 1) the amplitude of the velocity profile, and 2) the central density of the star, span a parameter space, and we focus only on that region that gives rise to Type II critical beh…
