Tidal effects in neutron star-compact object binaries

To detect and characterize gravitational waves from neutron star binaries, LIGO needs good models of all possible signals.  Numerical relativity can't practically be used for every case, but it is needed to test and calibrate the simpler models that LIGO can use.  Inspiral waveforms from binaries with neutron stars differ from binary black hole waveforms by the presence of tidal forces.  In a recent paper (http://arxiv.org/abs/1602.00599), Tanja Hinderer and collaborators use SXS black hole-neutron star simulations to validate a new model of these tidal forces.  They find that tidal effects can be stronger than previously expected when they come close to resonance with a neutron star's preferred ways of ringing (its normal modes of oscillation).

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About SXS

The SXS project is a collaborative research effort involving multiple institutions. Our goal is the simulation of black holes and other extreme spacetimes to gain a better understanding of Relativity, and the physics of exotic objects in the distant cosmos.

The SXS project is supported by Canada Research Chairs, CFI, CIfAR, Compute Canada, Max Planck Society, NASA, NSERC, the NSF, Ontario MEDI, the Sherman Fairchild Foundation, and XSEDE.

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