Smoothed-Particle Hydrodynamic Simulations of Compact Mergers, Mass Transfer, and Accretion Disk Formation
Open AccessThe merging of cosmic, compact objects--neutron stars (NSs), black holes (BHs), and white dwarfs (WDs)--has been a growing field of interest, especially after the detection of the first gravitational wave (GW) signals associated with BH-BH and NS-NS mergers. The properties of emissions observed from merger events vary considerably due to the enormous diversity of compact binaries that end in mergers. Understanding the properties of each merger group is the first step in exposing the nature of many observed phenomena. Astrophysicists have devoted significant work towards simulations of NS-NS, NS-BH, and BH-BH mergers, less so for WD-NS. A WD in a binary system with a NS is particularly interesting due to their predicted GW frequencies and electromagnetic burst energies. The GW frequency of these binaries during their orbital separation evolution and when their merger is particularly relevant for future observatories, such as the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) satellite. High-performance computing facilities are best situated to study the dynamics of merger events due to the complex, interwoven physics operating on dynamical timescales during the merger. Additionally, the mergers of NS-WD binaries could be the source of some long-duration gamma-ray bursts detectable via traditional electromagnetic-spectrum observatories. We have developed a Smoothed-Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) simulation tool, FLECSPH, similar to the original method described by Gingold and Monaghan (1977). FleCSPH provides initial data generators, particle relaxation techniques, and standard evolution drivers, which can be easily modified and extended to user-specific setups. Data input/output uses the H5part format, compatible with modern visualization software. We present multiple dynamical simulations of compact mergers, primarily WDNS, and resolution studies of these mergers to investigate the instability of mass transfer and the formation of accretion disks around the NS remnant. The resulting accretion disks are compared with analytic disk approximations and resulting transients. The simulated properties of these mergers can further be compared with observational data, crucial for association with unique subsets of transients.
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Kaltenborn_gwu_0075A_16268.pdf | 2023-11-14 | Open Access |
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