arXiv subjects

Harry Ho-Yin Ng

Publications and source records attributed to Harry Ho-Yin Ng.

13 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Spinning down neutron-star merger remnants with the Tayler-Spruit dynamo: Global simulations reveal the formation of massive disks and neutron-rich ejecta

Magnetic-field amplification and angular momentum (AM) transport critically shape the secular evolution, lifetime, and electromagnetic signatures of binary neutron-star merger remnants. While the magnetorotational instability can operate in the outer negative-shear regions of the neutron-star remnant and accretion disk, the positive-shear, stably stratified core may instead be susceptible to the Tayler-Spruit dynamo. We present the first global, long-term general-relativistic neutrino-radiation magnetohydrodynamics simulations of a neutron-star merger remnant incorporating the unresolved Tayler-Spruit dynamo through a new mean-field dynamo subgrid prescription. Our axisymmetric simulations starting from a realistic merger remnant show that the Tayler-Spruit dynamo is primarily active in high-latitude regions of the remnant core. The resulting Maxwell stresses redistribute AM on a spin-down timescale of a few hundred milliseconds, substantially flattening the core rotation profile and transferring mass and AM from the outer remnant into the disk. This produces a more massive, extended, and strongly magnetized disk with a low electron fraction, leading to substantially more neutron-rich ejecta. Our results demonstrate that currently unmodelled Tayler-Spruit dynamo action can qualitatively alter the rotational evolution, collapse prospects, disk formation, and multi-messenger signatures of long-lived neutron-star merger remnants.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2026

A Multidimensional General-Relativistic Boltzmann Solver for Neutrino Transport: Implementation, Discretization and Optimization

We present the implementation of a multidimensional general-relativistic Boltzmann solver for neutrino transport using the finite volume method. We extend the general-relativistic magnetohydrodynamics solver \texttt{Gmunu} to discretize the full $6$D phase space. We discretize the momentum space in spherical coordinates in the comoving frame, and the position space in the lab frame in Cartesian, cylindrical or spherical coordinates. As in the M1 scheme, we expand the interaction kernels up to first order in a Legendre series. We present a discretization scheme that ensures consistency between the number-conservative and non-conservative formulations in empty flat spacetime, multiple dimensions and coordinate systems, conserves energy to $\sim 1\%$ with $20$ energy bins in 1D tests. We discuss optimizations of the implicit solver for stiff source terms to minimize its computational cost. In particular, we introduce a method that leverages the Legendre expansion of the kernels to reduce the dimensionality of the problem. In a 1D core-collapse supernova snapshot, our method yields a speed-up factor of $300$ compared to a full-matrix LU method for $14$ angular bins when including energy- and species-coupling interactions. Finally, we validate our implementation on standard test cases and report quadratic convergence in space, energy and propagation angles. We compare our solver to the M1 scheme in simplified 1D configurations and find differences of about $10\%$ in the free-streaming luminosities in relaxation test cases, which we attribute primarily to the M1 closure relation. The average energies, on the other hand, agree between the two methods. We compare both methods on a core-collapse supernova test case and find an overall good agreement in the fluid variables' profiles at the time of core bounce for $20$ energy bins.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2026

GRACE: An Open-Source Framework for GPU-Accelerated Numerical Relativity

We present GRACE, a new GPU-accelerated numerical-relativity framework designed to run efficiently on heterogeneous high-performance computing platforms. Developed from scratch and built exclusively on open-source libraries, GRACE employs Kokkos for performance portability across CPU and GPU architectures and p4est for adaptive mesh refinement. The code evolves the equations of ideal GRMHD -- with divergence-free magnetic fields maintained by constrained transport -- self-consistently coupled to the Einstein equations in the Z4c formulation, on fixed or adaptively refined grids. We validate the implementation against a suite of standard tests, ranging from magnetized shock tubes and the magnetic rotor in flat spacetime, through (magnetized) Bondi accretion onto a Schwarzschild black hole and the ringdown of a perturbed spinning puncture, to neutron-star oscillation spectra in fixed and dynamical spacetimes and the merger of binary black holes. As more demanding applications, we evolve two binary neutron-star mergers -- an equal-mass, unmagnetized system with an ideal-gas equation of state and an unequal-mass, magnetized system with a finite-temperature tabulated equation of state -- finding the inspiral dynamics to agree well with the FIL code. We also report single-device throughput together with strong- and weak-scaling results on multiple GPU and CPU architectures. GRACE is publicly released together with GRACEpy, a basic post-processing and data-analysis environment.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2026

Distinct neutrino signatures and onset condition of quark deconfinement in accretion-induced collapse of white dwarfs

We present the first general relativistic, neutrino-radiation hydrodynamics simulations of accretion-induced collapse (AIC) extending to seconds after core bounce, using realistic hadron-quark hybrid equations of state (EOSs). A first-order QCD phase transition (PT) triggers a second dynamical collapse and the formation of a quasistable protohybrid star (PHS) with a deconfined quark core and a distinctive second neutrino burst. We find that the thermally suppressed onset of the mixed phase allows low-mass protoneutron stars to enter the hadron-quark mixed phase during long-term evolution, even for hybrid EOSs with high onset densities. In contrast to core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe), AIC models exhibit a tightly constrained onset mass with minimal EOS dependence, owing to the absence of a massive envelope and thus the reduced postbounce accretion. This enhances the sensitivity of neutrino observables in AIC to hybrid EOS properties. We establish empirical relations between PT onset density and neutrino signatures, revealing a distinct behavior in AIC not seen in CCSNe. Our results suggest that a single Galactic AIC neutrino detection could place strong constraints on QCD PT thresholds, hybrid EOS characteristics, and the existence of PHSs. PT in AIC may also produce gravitational waves, gamma-ray bursts, and $r$-process elements, motivating multidimensional simulations with rotation, magnetic fields, and improved microphysics for realistic multimessenger predictions.

hep-th↗

arXiv2026

The initial spin matters: the impact of rapid rotation on magnetic-field amplification at merger

A couple of milliseconds after the merger of a binary system of neutron stars can play a fundamental role in amplifying the comparatively low initial magnetic fields into magnetar strengths. The basic mechanism responsible for this amplification is the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability (KHI) and we here report the first systematic study of the impact of rapid rotation on the KHI-amplification process exploiting general-relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations at very high-resolutions of $35\,{\rm m}$. Concentrating on four different spinning configurations, we find that aligned, anti-aligned, and mixed (aligned/anti-aligned) spin configurations lead to markedly different growth rates of the electromagnetic (EM) energy, field topologies, and vortex properties when compared to the irrotational case. These differences arise from intrinsic variations in the system dynamics, such as tidal deformation, collision strength, and contact surface area, with the anti-aligned configuration producing the largest vorticity and growth in EM energy. Importantly, while different spin configurations lead to significantly different initial growth rates of the poloidal/toroidal components, all systems converge to a specific topological partition. Our simulations are confined to a short window in time, but the different EM energies produced as a result of spin will imprint the EM emission at merger and provide information on the spinning state at merger.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2025

Long-term impact of the magnetic-field strength on the evolution and electromagnetic emission by neutron-star merger remnants

Numerical simulations are essential to understand the complex physics accompanying the merger of binary systems of neutron stars. However, these simulations become computationally challenging when they have to model the merger remnants on timescales over which secular phenomena, such as the launching of magnetically driven outflows, develop. To tackle these challenges, we have recently developed a hybrid approach that combines, via a hand-off transition, a fully general-relativistic code (FIL) with a more efficient code making use of the conformally flat approximation (BHAC+). We here report important additional developments of BHAC+ consisting of the inclusion of gravitational-wave radiation-reaction contributions and of higher-order formulations of the equations of general-relativistic magnetohydrodynamics. Both improvements have allowed us to explore BNS merger remnants with high accuracy and over timescales that would have been computationally prohibitive otherwise. More specifically, we have investigated the impact of the magnetic-field strength on the long-term (i.e., $\sim 200\,{\rm ms}$) and high-resolution (i.e., $150\,{\rm m}$) evolutions of the "magnetar" resulting from the merger of two neutron stars with a realistic equation of state. In this way, and for sufficiently large magnetic fields, we observe the weakening or suppression of differential rotation and the generation of magnetic flares in the outer layers of the remnant. These flares, driven mostly by the Parker instability, are responsible for intense and collimated Poynting flux outbursts and mass ejections. This novel phenomenology offers the possibility of seeking corresponding signatures from the observations of short gamma-ray bursts and hence revealing the existence of a long-lived strongly magnetized remnant.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2025

Accurate muonic interactions in neutron star mergers and impact on heavy-element nucleosynthesis

The abundances resulting from $r$-process nucleosynthesis as predicted by simulations of binary neutron star (BNS) mergers remain an open question as the current state of the art is still restricted to three-species neutrino transport. We present the first BNS merger simulations employing a moment-based general-relativistic neutrino transport with five neutrino species, thus including (anti)muons and advanced muonic $β$-processes, and contrast them with traditional three-neutrino-species simulations. Our results show that a muonic trapped-neutrino equilibrium is established, forming a different trapped-neutrino hierarchy akin to the electronic equilibrium. The formation of (anti)muons and the muonization via muonic $β$-processes enhance the neutrino luminosity, leading to rapid cooling in the early postmerger phase. Since muonic processes redirect part of the energy otherwise used for protonization by electronic processes, they yield a cooler remnant and disk, together with neutrino-driven winds that are more neutron-rich. Importantly, the unbound ejected mass is smaller than three-species simulations, and, because of its comparatively smaller temperature and proton fraction, it can enhance lanthanide production and reduce the overproduction of light $r$-process elements for softer equations of state. This finding underlines the importance of muonic interactions and five neutrino species in long-lived BNS remnants.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2025

Influence of neutrino-electron scattering and neutrino-pair annihilation on hypermassive neutron star

We investigate the influence of inelastic neutrino microphysics in general-relativistic magnetohydrodynamics simulations of a hypermassive neutron star. In particular, we include species/energy groups coupled neutrino-matter interactions, such as inelastic neutrino-electron scattering and electron-positron annihilation kernels, into simulations up to 50 ms. Neutrino-electron inelastic scattering is known to have effective neutrino-matter energy exchange. We show that, with neutrino-electron inelastic scattering, simulations predict 75% higher disc mass with slightly different mass-averaged compositions, and 18% more ejected mass with similar distributions. The enhancement of the mass of the disc and the ejecta results in stronger baryon pollution, leading to less favourable jet launching environments. Furthermore, neutrino luminosities are about 50, 40, and 30% higher for electron neutrino, electron anti-neutrino, and heavy-lepton neutrinos. In contrast, we do not see any significant impacts due to electron-positron annihilation.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2024

A hybrid approach to long-term binary neutron-star simulations

One of the main challenges in the numerical modeling of binary neutron-star (BNS) mergers is long-term simulations of the post-merger remnant over timescales of the order of seconds. When this modeling includes all the aspects of complex physics, the computational costs can easily become enormous. To address this challenge in part, we have developed a novel hybrid approach in which the solution from a general-relativistic magnetohydrodynamics (GRMHD) code solving the full set of the Einstein equations in Cartesian coordinates is coupled with another GRMHD code in which the Einstein equations are solved under the Conformally Flat Condition (CFC). The latter approximation has a long history and has been shown to provide an accurate description of compact objects in non-vacuum spacetimes. An important aspect of the CFC is that the elliptic equations need to be solved only for a fraction of the steps needed for the underlying HD/MHD evolution, thus allowing for a gain in computational efficiency that can be up to a factor of $\sim 6~(230)$ in three-dimensional (two-dimensional) simulations. We present the basic features of the new code, the strategies necessary to interface it when importing both two- and three-dimensional data, and a novel and robust approach to the recovery of the primitive variables. To validate our new framework, we have carried out code tests with various coordinate systems and different numbers of spatial dimensions, involving a variety of astrophysical scenarios, including the evolution of the post-merger remnant of a BNS merger over a timescale of one second. \texttt{BHAC+}, can accurately reproduce the evolution of compact objects in non-vacuum spacetimes and that, when compared with the evolution in full general relativity, the CFC reproduces accurately both the gravitational fields and the matter variables at a fraction of the computational costs.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2023

General-relativistic radiation transport scheme in Gmunu II: Implementation of novel microphysical library for neutrino radiation -- Weakhub

We introduce \texttt{Weakhub}, a novel neutrino microphysics library that provides opacities and kernels beyond conventional interactions used in the literature. This library includes neutrino-matter, neutrino-photon, and neutrino-neutrino interactions, along with corresponding weak and strong corrections. A full kinematics approach is adopted for the calculations of $β$-processes, incorporating various weak corrections and medium modifications due to the nuclear equation of state. Calculations of plasma processes, electron neutrino-antineutrino annihilation, and nuclear de-excitation are included. We also present the detailed derivations of weak interactions and the coupling of them to the two-moment based general-relativistic multi-group radiation transport in the \texttt{G}eneral-relativistic \texttt{mu}ltigrid \texttt{nu}merical (\texttt{Gmunu}) code. We compare the neutrino opacity spectra for all interactions and estimate their contributions at hydrodynamical points in core-collapse supernova and binary neutron star postmerger remnant, and predict the effects of improved opacities in comparison to conventional ones for a binary neutron star postmerger at a specific hydrodynamical point. We test the implementation of the conventional set of interactions by comparing it to an open-source neutrino library \texttt{NuLib} in a core-collapse supernova simulation. We demonstrate good agreement with discrepancies of less than $\sim 10\%$ in luminosity for all neutrino species, while also highlighting the reasons contributing to the differences. To compare the advanced interactions to the conventional set in core-collapse supernova modelling, we perform simulations to analyze their impacts on neutrino signatures, hydrodynamical behaviors, and shock dynamics, showing significant deviations.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2023

General-relativistic radiation transport scheme in $\texttt{Gmunu}$ I: Implementation of two-moment based multi-frequency radiative transfer and code tests

We present the implementation of two-moment based general-relativistic multi-group radiation transport module in the $\texttt{G}$eneral-relativistic $\texttt{mu}$ltigrid $\texttt{nu}$merical ($\texttt{Gmunu}$) code. On top of solving the general-relativistic magnetohydrodynamics and the Einstein equations with conformally flat approximations, the code solves the evolution equations of the zeroth- and first-order moments of the radiations. Analytic closure relation is used to obtain the higher order moments and close the system. The finite-volume discretisation has been adopted for the radiation moments. The advection in spatial and frequency spaces are handled explicitly. In addition, the radiation-matter interaction terms, which are very stiff in the optically thick region, are solved implicitly. Implicit-explicit Runge-Kutta schemes are adopted for time integration. We test the implementation with a number of numerical benchmarks from frequency-integrated to frequency dependent cases. Furthermore, we also illustrate the astrophysical applications in hot neutron star and core-collapse supernovae modellings, and compare with other neutrino transport codes.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2021

Gmunu: Paralleled, grid-adaptive, general-relativistic magnetohydrodynamics in curvilinear geometries in dynamical spacetimes

We present an update of the General-relativistic multigrid numerical (Gmunu) code, a parallelized, multi-dimensional curvilinear, general relativistic magnetohydrodynamics code with an efficient non-linear cell-centred multigrid (CCMG) elliptic solver, which is fully coupled with an efficient block-based adaptive mesh refinement modules. Currently, Gmunu is able to solve the elliptic metric equations in the conformally flat condition (CFC) approximation with the multigrid approach and the equations of ideal general-relativistic magnetohydrodynamics by means of high-resolution shock-capturing finite volume method with reference-metric formularise multi-dimensionally in cartesian, cylindrical or spherical geometries. To guarantee the absence of magnetic monopoles during the evolution, we have developed an elliptical divergence cleaning method by using multigrid solver. In this paper, we present the methodology, full evolution equations and implementation details of our code Gmunu and its properties and performance in some benchmarking and challenging relativistic magnetohydrodynamics problems.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2020

Gravitational-wave asteroseismology with f-modes from neutron star binaries at the merger phase

Gravitational-wave signals from coalescing binary neutron stars can yield important information about the properties of nuclear-matter equation of state from the early part of the signal through tidal effects to the properties and oscillation frequencies of the merger product. We investigate a direct link between the properties of isolated neutron stars and their merger, by comparing the frequency of the fundamental oscillation mode ($f$-mode) of neutron stars with the gravitational-wave frequency associated with the merger of two neutron stars. We calculate the quadrupolar ($l=2$) $f$-mode oscillation ($f_{2f}$) of non-rotating and rotating neutron stars using a nonlinear hydrodynamics code in the conformally-flat approximation and obtain the gravitational-wave frequency associated with the peak amplitude ($f_{\rm max}$) of binary-neutron stars from a set of publicly available simulations. We find that $f_{\rm max}$ and $f_{2f}$ differ by about 1\%, on average, across forty-five equal-mass systems with different total mass and equations of state. Assuming that the gravitational-wave frequency is still approximately equal to twice the orbital frequency $Ω$ near the merger, the result indicates that the condition for tidal resonance $|m|Ω= f_{2f}$ is satisfied to high accuracy near the merger, where $m=2$ is the azimuthal quantum number. Moreover, the well established universal relation between $f_{\rm max}$ and the tidal deformability of equal-mass binary systems can now be explained by a similar relation between $f_{2f}$ and the tidal deformability of isolated neutron stars, which has been demonstrated to be associated with the nearly incompressible properties of neutron stars. Our findings suggest that it is possible to relate the gravitational-wave signal at the merger of a binary neutron star system directly to the fundamental oscillation modes and the mass ratio.

astro-ph.HE↗