arXiv subjects

Georgios Lioutas

Publications and source records attributed to Georgios Lioutas.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Low-$T/|W|$ instabilities in differentially rotating neutron stars resembling merger remnants

We construct constant rest-mass sequences of equilibrium models of differentially rotating neutron stars which resemble binary neutron star post-merger remnants. For a more realistic description of the post-merger remnant, we impose that each model carries approximately $95\%$ of the angular momentum that a binary system with the same total rest-mass has at the moment of merging, based on an empirical relation informed from neutron star merger simulations. We account for equation of state effects by employing two distinct microphysical descriptions for high density matter. We dynamically evolve the equilibrium models with a three-dimensional general relativistic hydrodynamics code that employs the conformal flatness approximation. We investigate the connection between the occurrence of the instability and the existence of corotation radii within the stellar configurations and determine the instability window for both equation of state sequences. The occurrence of low-$T/|W|$ instabilities leads to pronounced gravitational wave emission in the range $0.13 \lessapproxβ\lessapprox 0.2$, while models outside this range exhibit less pronounced features in the gravitational wave spectrum. The prominence of gravitational wave emission is primarily determined by $β$, while the equation of state seems to have a more minor effect. We present correlations between the strength of the gravitational wave emission associated with the instability and properties of the equilibrium models. Stellar configurations modelled by different equations of state display differences in the timescales over which the various dynamical features develop, as well as whether they exhibit a pronounced $m=1$ deformation. Potential relations between the instability growth timescales and properties of the stellar models are studied.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2026

Stellar properties indicating the presence of hyperons in neutron stars

We describe distinctive stellar features indicating the presence of hyperons in neutron stars as compared to purely nucleonic systems. A strongly negative curvature of the mass-radius relation $R(M)$ is characteristic of hyperons, which can be determined from measurements of neutron stars with three different masses. Similarly, a reduced second derivative of the tidal deformability as function of mass λ(M) points to hyperonic degrees of freedom in NS matter. The slopes of such curves R(M) and λ(M) can distinguish a hyperonic equation of state from purely nucleonic models if they appear increased (decreased for λ(M)) relative to the maximum mass of neutron stars.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2025

Hyperonic degrees of freedom in binary neutron star mergers

We analyze the influence of hyperons in binary neutron star mergers considering several different equations of state that include hyperons. By running a large set of simulations, we study the impact of the thermally produced hyperons on the gravitational-wave spectral features, the temperature evolution of the remnant, the mass ejecta and the threshold mass for prompt collapse to a black hole. Models with hyperons tend to stand out in the relation between the dominant postmerger gravitational-wave frequency and the tidal deformability of massive stars. Moreover, the averaged temperature of the remnant is reduced for hyperonic models. The mass ejection of the mergers is tentatively enhanced when hyperons are present in comparison to nucleonic EoSs leading to similar stellar properties of cold neutron stars, whereas the threshold mass for prompt black-hole formation is reduced by about 0.05~$M_\odot$ compared to the nucleonic models.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2025

The impact of hyperons on neutron star mergers: gravitational waves, mass ejection and black hole formation

We study the influence of hyperons in binary neutron star (NS) mergers considering a total of 14 temperature dependent equations of state (EoSs) models which include hyperonic degrees of freedom and partly delta resonances. Thermally produced hyperons induce a higher heat capacity and a lower thermal index, i.e. a reduced thermal pressure for a given amount of thermal energy, compared to purely nucleonic models. We run a large set of relativistic hydrodynamics simulations of NS mergers to explore the impact on observables of these events. In symmetric binaries, we describe a characteristic increase of the dominant postmerger gravitational-wave (GW) frequency by a few per cent, which is specifically linked to the occurrence of hyperons and can thus be potentially used as a discriminator between purely nucleonic and hyperonic systems. We corroborate that this effect occurs similarly for asymmetric binaries and becomes more prominent with increasing total binary mass. Hyperonic models tend to stick out in relations between the dominant postmerger GW frequency and the tidal deformability of massive stars providing a signature to identify the presence of hyperons. Distinct secondary postmerger GW spectral features are differently affected by the presence of hyperons, in the sense that one feature exhibits a characteristic frequency shift due to the specific thermal properties of hyperonic EoSs while the other does not. The dynamical mass ejection of mergers is tentatively enhanced for hyperonic models in comparison to nucleonic EoSs which yield roughly the same stellar properties of cold NSs. This may serve useful to identify exotic degrees of freedom in these systems by kilonova observations. Also, for hyperonic EoSs the threshold mass for prompt black hole formation is reduced by about 0.05 $M_{\odot}$ in comparison to nucleonic systems with the same stellar parameters of cold NSs.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2024

Towards inferring the geometry of kilonovae

Recent analysis of the kilonova, AT2017gfo, has indicated that this event was highly spherical. This may challenge hydrodynamics simulations of binary neutron star mergers, which usually predict a range of asymmetries, and radiative transfer simulations show a strong direction dependence. Here we investigate whether the synthetic spectra from a 3D kilonova simulation of asymmetric ejecta from a hydrodynamical merger simulation can be compatible with the observational constraints suggesting a high degree of sphericity in AT2017gfo. Specifically, we determine whether fitting a simple P-Cygni line profile model leads to a value for the photospheric velocity that is consistent with the value obtained from the expanding photosphere method. We would infer that our kilonova simulation is highly spherical at early times, when the spectra resemble a blackbody distribution. The two independently inferred photospheric velocities can be very similar, implying a high degree of sphericity, which can be as spherical as inferred for AT2017gfo, demonstrating that the photosphere can appear spherical even for asymmetrical ejecta. The last-interaction velocities of radiation escaping the simulation show a high degree of sphericity, supporting the inferred symmetry of the photosphere. We find that when the synthetic spectra resemble a blackbody the expanding photosphere method can be used to obtain an accurate luminosity distance (within 4-7 per cent).

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2024

General relativistic moving-mesh hydrodynamics simulations with AREPO and applications to neutron star mergers

We implement general relativistic hydrodynamics in the moving-mesh code AREPO. We also couple a solver for the Einstein field equations employing the conformal flatness approximation. The implementation is validated by evolving isolated static neutron stars using a fixed metric or a dynamical spacetime. In both tests the frequencies of the radial oscillation mode match those of independent calculations. We run the first moving-mesh simulation of a neutron star merger. The simulation includes a scheme to adaptively refine or derefine cells and thereby adjusting the local resolution dynamically. The general dynamics are in agreement with independent smoothed particle hydrodynamics and static-mesh simulations of neutron star mergers. Coarsely comparing, we find that dynamical features like the post-merger double-core structure or the quasi-radial oscillation mode persist on longer time scales, possibly reflecting a low numerical diffusivity of our method. Similarly, the post-merger gravitational wave emission shows the same features as observed in simulations with other codes. In particular, the main frequency of the post-merger phase is found to be in good agreement with independent results for the same binary system, while, in comparison, the amplitude of the post-merger gravitational wave signal falls off slower, i.e. the post-merger oscillations are less damped. The successful implementation of general relativistic hydrodynamics in the moving-mesh AREPO code, including a dynamical spacetime evolution, provides a fundamentally new tool to simulate general relativistic problems in astrophysics.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2021

Frequency deviations in universal relations of isolated neutron stars and postmerger remnants

We relate the fundamental quadrupolar fluid mode of isolated non-rotating NSs and the dominant oscillation frequency of neutron star merger remnants. Both frequencies individually are known to correlate with certain stellar parameters like radii or the tidal deformability, which we further investigate by constructing fit formulae and quantifying the scatter of the data points from those relations. Furthermore, we compare how individual data points deviate from the corresponding fit to all data points. Considering this point-to-point scatter we uncover a striking similarity between the frequency deviations of perturbative data for isolated NSs and of oscillation frequencies of rapidly rotating, hot, massive merger remnants. The correspondence of frequency deviations in these very different stellar systems points to an underlying mechanism and EoS information being encoded in the frequency deviation. We trace the frequency scatter back to deviations of the tidal Love number from an average tidal Love number for a given stellar compactness. Our results thus indicate a possibility to break the degeneracy between NS radii, tidal deformability and tidal Love number. We also relate frequency deviations to the derivative of the tidal deformability with respect to mass. Our findings generally highlight a possibility to improve GW asteroseismology relations where the systematic behavior of frequency deviations is employed to reduce the scatter in such relationships and consequently increase the measurement accuracy. In addition, we relate the f-mode frequency of static stars and the dominant GW frequency of merger remnants. We find an analytic mapping to connect the masses of both stellar systems, which yields particularly accurate mass-independent relations between both frequencies and between the postmerger frequency and the tidal deformability.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2021

Systematics of prompt black-hole formation in neutron star mergers

This study addresses the collapse behavior of neutron star (NS) mergers expressed through the binary threshold mass M_thr for prompt black hole (BH) formation, which we determine by relativistic hydrodynamical simulations for 40 equation of state (EoS) models. M_thr can be well described by various fit formulae involving stellar parameters of nonrotating NSs. Using these relations we compute which constraints on NS radii and the tidal deformability are set by current and future merger detections revealing information about the merger product. We systematically investigate the impact of the binary mass ratio q=M_1/M_2 and assemble different fits, which make different assumptions about a-priori knowlegde. We find fit formulae for M_thr including an explicit q dependence, which are valid in a broad range of 0.7<=q<=1 and which are nearly as tight as relations for fixed mass ratios. For most EoS models except extreme cases M_thr of asymmetric mergers is equal or smaller than the one of equal-mass binaries. The impact of the binary mass asymmetry on M_thr becomes stronger with more extreme mass ratios, while M_thr is approximately constant for small deviations from q=1. We describe that a phase transition to deconfined quark matter can leave a characteristic imprint on the collapse behavior. The presence of quark matter can reduce the stability of the remnant and thus M_thr relative to a purely hadronic reference model. Comparing the threshold mass and the tidal deformability Lambda_thr of a system with M_thr can yield peculiar combinations of those two quantities, where M_thr is particularly small in relation to Lambda_thr. Hence, a combined measurement of both quantities can indicate the onset of quark deconfinement. We point out new univariate relations between M_thr and stellar properties of high-mass NSs, which can be employed for direct EoS constraints or consistency checks. (abridged)

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2018

Universal and approximate relations for the gravitational-wave damping timescale of $f$-modes in neutron stars

Existing estimates of the gravitational-wave damping timescale of the dominant quadrupole oscillation mode in the case of rapidly rotating stars are based on using a Newtonian estimate for the energy of the mode, in combination with the lowest-order post-Newtonian quadrupole formula for estimating the gravitational-wave luminosity. We investigate a number of other choices for estimating the gravitational-wave damping timescale in the nonrotating limit and construct a highly accurate, empirically corrected formula that has a maximum relative error of only 3% with respect to the perturbative result in full general relativity. The expressions involved are sufficiently general to be extended to the case of rapidly rotating stars. We also present a new higher-order empirical relation for the gravitational-wave damping timescale of quadrupole oscillations that is accurate in the whole range of expected values for the compactness of neutron stars, without the need for involving the moment of inertia.

gr-qc↗