Binary neutron stars: inspiral and merger

Inspiral and merger of equal-mass relativistic neutron stars (low-mass, polytropic equation of state)

The images show the simulation of two neutron stars merging into a single object: an hypermassive neutron star (HMNS). Shown with different colours are different values of the density with green for the high density and orange for the low density. Although very hot, the HMNS will not be able to resist gravity and will collapse to produce a black hole after a fraction of a second. The low-density (orange) material will then produce a torus orbiting the black hole, leading to the configuration which is expected behind gamma-ray bursts.

Credits:
L. Baiotti, B. Giacomazzo (Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics), L. Rezzolla (Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics & Institute for Theoretical Physics, Frankfurt), R. Kähler (Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics & Zuse Institute Berlin)

Note: Publication of these images requires proper credits and written permission. Please contact aei_zib_images@aei.mpg.de in advance of publication.