Gravitational-wave-driven tidal secular instability in neutron star binaries
Gravitational-wave-driven tidal secular instability in neutron star binaries
We report the existence of a gravitational-wave-driven secular instability in neutron star binaries, acting on the equilibrium tide. The instability is similar to the classic Chandrasekhar-Friedman-Schutz instability of normal modes and is active when the spin of the primary star exceeds the orbital frequency of the companion. Modeling the neutron star as a Newtonian n=1 polytrope, we calculate the instability timescale, which can be as low as a few seconds at small orbital separations but still larger than the inspiral timescale. The implications for orbital and spin evolution are also briefly explored, where it is found that the instability slows down the inspiral and decreases the stellar spin.
Pnigouras, Pantelis
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Pnigouras, Pantelis
e7fc1316-2ac6-4f1a-8d7e-5b76e442e2bf
Pnigouras, Pantelis
(2019)
Gravitational-wave-driven tidal secular instability in neutron star binaries.
Physical Review D, 100 (6), [63016].
(doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.100.063016).
Abstract
We report the existence of a gravitational-wave-driven secular instability in neutron star binaries, acting on the equilibrium tide. The instability is similar to the classic Chandrasekhar-Friedman-Schutz instability of normal modes and is active when the spin of the primary star exceeds the orbital frequency of the companion. Modeling the neutron star as a Newtonian n=1 polytrope, we calculate the instability timescale, which can be as low as a few seconds at small orbital separations but still larger than the inspiral timescale. The implications for orbital and spin evolution are also briefly explored, where it is found that the instability slows down the inspiral and decreases the stellar spin.
Text
Gravitational-wave-driven tidal secular instability in neutron star binaries
- Accepted Manuscript
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Accepted/In Press date: 6 September 2019
e-pub ahead of print date: 27 September 2019
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 435322
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/435322
ISSN: 2470-0010
PURE UUID: 78567a13-da77-4133-845b-6b622bc5348f
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Date deposited: 30 Oct 2019 17:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 04:49
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Author:
Pantelis Pnigouras
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