Coalescing neutron stars - a step towards physical models. Pt. 1 Hydrodynamic evolution and gravittional-wave emission

We investigate the dynamics and evolution of coalescing neutron stars. The three-dimensional Newtonian equations of hydrodynamics are integrated by the 'Piecewise Parabolic Method' on an equidistant Cartesian grid with a resolution of 64"3 or 128"3. Although the code is purely Newtonian, we do include the emission of gravitational waves and their backreaction on the hydrodynamic flow. The properties of neutron star matter are described by the physical equation of state of Lattimer and Swesty (1991). In addition to the fundamental hydrodynamics quantities, density, momentum, and energy, we follow the time evolution of the electron density in the stellar gas. In this work we evaluate the models in detail with respect to the gravitational wave emission using the quadrupole approximation. In a forthcoming paper we will concentrate on the neutrino emission and implications for gamma-ray bursters. (orig.)Available from TIB Hannover: RR 4697(889) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman