arXiv subjects

Koutarou Kyutoku

Publications and source records attributed to Koutarou Kyutoku.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2017

Extracting the cutoff frequency in the gravitational-wave spectrum of black hole-neutron star mergers

The location of the cutoff in the gravitational-wave spectrum of black hole-neutron star mergers is correlated strongly with the neutron-star radius for the case that the neutron star is disrupted by the black hole during the merger. However, the modulation which appears in the spectrum due to the mode mixing makes it difficult to measure the cutoff frequency if gravitational waves are observed from inclined direction or the binary is precessing. In this letter, we show that the cutoff frequency can be measured even in such situations with a method we have recently proposed to reconstruct the face-on waveforms only from the strain observed from a particular direction. We show that the systematic error in the measurement of the neutron-star radius can be reduced to $\lesssim 5\%$ for the case that tidal disruption of the neutron star occurs significantly.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2017

Sub-radian-accuracy gravitational waveforms of coalescing binary neutron stars in numerical relativity

Extending our previous studies, we perform high-resolution simulations of inspiraling binary neutron stars in numerical relativity. We thoroughly carry through a convergence study in our currently available computational resources with the smallest grid spacing of $\approx 63$--86~meter for the neutron-star radius 10.9--13.7\,km. The estimated total error in the gravitational-wave phase is of order 0.1~rad for the total phase of $\gtrsim 210$\,rad in the last $\sim 15$--16 inspiral orbits. We then compare the waveforms (without resolution extrapolation) with those calculated by the latest effective-one-body formalism (tidal SEOBv2 model referred to as TEOB model). We find that for any of our models of binary neutron stars, the waveforms calculated by the TEOB formalism agree with the numerical-relativity waveforms up to $\approx 3$\,ms before the peak of the gravitational-wave amplitude is reached: For this late inspiral stage, the total phase error is $\lesssim 0.1$\,rad. Although the gravitational waveforms have an inspiral-type feature for the last $\sim 3$\,ms, this stage cannot be well reproduced by the current TEOB formalism, in particular, for neutron stars with large tidal deformability (i.e., lager radius). The reason for this is described.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2017

Gravitational-wave cosmography with LISA and the Hubble tension

We propose that stellar-mass binary black holes like GW150914 will become a tool to explore the local Universe within ~100Mpc in the era of the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). High calibration accuracy and annual motion of LISA could enable us to localize up to ~60 binaries more accurately than the error volume of ~100Mpc^3 without electromagnetic counterparts under moderately optimistic assumptions. This accuracy will give us a fair chance to determine the host object solely by gravitational waves. By combining the luminosity distance extracted from gravitational waves with the cosmological redshift determined from the host, the local value of the Hubble parameter will be determined up to a few % without relying on the empirically constructed distance ladder. Gravitational-wave cosmography would pave the way for resolution of the disputed Hubble tension, where the local and global measurements disagree in the value of the Hubble parameter at 3.4sigma level, which amounts to ~9%.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2016

Forecasting Tidal Disruption Events by Binary Black Hole Roulettes

We discuss the gravitational wave emission and the orbital evolution of a hierarchical triple system composed of an inner binary black hole (BBH) and an outer tertiary. Depending on the kick velocity at the merger, the merged BBH could tidally disrupt the tertiary. Even though the fraction of BBH mergers accompanied by such disruptions is expected to be much smaller than unity, the existence of a tertiary and its basic parameters (e.g. semimajor axis, projected mass) can be examined for more than 1000 BBHs with the space GW detector LISA and its follow-on missions. This allows us to efficiently prescreen the targets for the follow-up searches for the tidal disruption events (TDEs). The TDE probability would be significantly higher for triple systems with aligned orbital- and spin-angular momenta, compared with random configurations.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2016

Models of Kilonova/macronova emission from black hole-neutron star mergers

Black hole-neutron star mergers are among the promising gravitational-wave sources for ground-based detectors, and gravitational waves from black hole-neutron star mergers are expected to be detected in the next few years. Simultaneous detection of electromagnetic counterparts with gravitational-wave detection provides rich information about the merger events. Among the possible electromagnetic counterparts from the black hole-neutron star merger, the emission powered by the decay of radioactive r-process nuclei, so called kilonova/macronova, is one of the best targets for follow-up observation. We derive fitting formulas for the mass and the velocity of ejecta from a generic black hole-neutron star merger based on recently performed numerical relativity simulations. We combined these fitting formulas with a new semi-analytic model for a black hole-neutron star kilonova/macronova lightcurve which reproduces the results of radiation-transfer simulations. Specifically, the semi-analytic model reproduces the result of each band magnitude obtained by the radiation transfer simulations within ~1 mag. By using this semi-analytic model, we found that, at 400 Mpc, the kilonova/macronova is as bright as 22-24 mag for the cases with a small chirp mass and a high black hole spin, and >28 mag for a large chirp mass and a low black hole spin. We also apply our model to GRB130603B as an illustration, and show that a black hole-neutron star merger with a rapidly spinning black hole and a large neutron star radius is favored.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2016

The unreasonable weakness of r-process cosmic rays in the neutron-star-merger nucleosynthesis scenario

We reach the robust conclusion that, by combining the observed cosmic rays of r-process elements with the fact that the velocity of the neutron-star-merger ejecta is much higher than that of the supernova ejecta, either (1) the reverse shock in the neutron-star-merger ejecta is a very inefficient accelerator that converts less than 0.003% of the ejecta kinetic energy to the cosmic-ray energy or (2) the neutron star merger is not the origin of the Galactic r-process elements. We also find that the acceleration efficiency should be less than 0.1% for the reverse shock of the supernova ejecta with the observed cosmic rays lighter than the iron.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2016

Concise estimate of the expected number of detections for stellar-mass binary black holes by eLISA

We study prospects for detecting extragalactic binary black holes similar to GW150914 by evolved Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (eLISA). We find that the majority of detected binary black holes will not merge within reasonable observation periods of eLISA in any configuration. While long-arm detectors are highly desired for promoting multiband gravitational-wave astronomy by increasing the detections of merging binaries, the number of total detections can be increased also by improving the acceleration noise. A monochromatic approximation works well to derive semiquantitative features of observational prospects for non-merging binaries with clearly indicating the parameter dependence. Our estimate also suggests that the number of galaxies in the error volume is so small that the host galaxy may be determined uniquely with high confidence.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2016

Effects of neutron-star dynamic tides on gravitational waveforms within the effective-one-body approach

Extracting the unique information on ultradense nuclear matter from the gravitational waves emitted by merging, neutron-star binaries requires robust theoretical models of the signal. We develop a novel effective-one-body waveform model that includes, for the first time, dynamic (instead of only adiabatic) tides of the neutron star, as well as the merger signal for neutron-star--black-hole binaries. We demonstrate the importance of the dynamic tides by comparing our model against new numerical-relativity simulations of nonspinning neutron-star--black-hole binaries spanning more than 24 gravitational-wave cycles, and to other existing numerical simulations for double neutron-star systems. Furthermore, we derive an effective description that makes explicit the dependence of matter effects on two key parameters: tidal deformability and fundamental oscillation frequency.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2016

Dynamical mass ejection from the merger of asymmetric binary neutron stars: Radiation-hydrodynamics study in general relativity

We perform neutrino radiation-hydrodynamics simulations for the merger of asymmetric binary neutron stars in numerical relativity. Neutron stars are modeled by soft and moderately stiff finite-temperature equations of state (EOS). We find that the properties of the dynamical ejecta such as the total mass, neutron richness profile, and specific entropy profile depend on the mass ratio of the binary systems for a given EOS in a unique manner. For the soft EOS (SFHo), the total ejecta mass depends weakly on the mass ratio, but the average of electron number per baryon ($Y_e$) and specific entropy ($s$) of the ejecta decreases significantly with the increase of the degree of mass asymmetry. For the stiff EOS (DD2), with the increase of the mass asymmetry degree, the total ejecta mass significantly increases while the average of $Y_e$ and $s$ moderately decreases. We find again that only for the soft EOS (SFHo), the total ejecta mass exceeds $0.01M_\odot$ irrespective of the mass ratio chosen in this paper. The ejecta have a variety of electron number per baryon with its average approximately between $Y_e \sim 0.2$ and $\sim 0.3$ irrespective of the EOS employed, which is well-suited for the production of the r-process heavy elements (second and third peaks), although its averaged value decreases with the increase of the degree of mass asymmetry.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2016

Measurability of the tidal deformability by gravitational waves from coalescing binary neutron stars

Combining new gravitational waveforms derived by long-term (14--16 orbits) numerical-relativity simulations with waveforms by an effective-one-body (EOB) formalism for coalescing binary neutron stars, we construct hybrid waveforms and estimate the measurability for the dimensionless tidal deformability of the neutron stars, $Λ$, by advanced gravitational-wave detectors. We focus on the equal-mass case with the total mass $2.7M_\odot$. We find that for an event at a hypothetical effective distance of $D_{\rm eff}=200$ Mpc, the distinguishable difference in the dimensionless tidal deformability will be $\approx 100$, 400, and 800 at 1-$σ$, 2-$σ$, and 3-$σ$ levels, respectively, for advanced LIGO. If the true equation of state is stiff and the typical neutron-star radius is $R \gtrsim 13 $ km, our analysis suggests that the radius will be constrained within $\approx 1$ km at 2-$σ$ level for an event at $D_{\rm eff}=200$ Mpc. On the other hand, if the true equation of state is soft and the typical neutron-star radius is $R\lesssim 12$ km , it will be difficult to narrow down the equation of state among many soft ones, although it is still possible to discriminate the true one from stiff equations of state with $R\gtrsim 13$ km. We also find that gravitational waves from binary neutron stars will be distinguished from those from spinless binary black holes at more than 2-$σ$ level for an event at $D_{\rm eff}=200$ Mpc. The validity of the EOB formalism, Taylor-T4, and Taylor-F2 approximants as the inspiral waveform model is also examined.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2015

Efficient magnetic-field amplification due to the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability in binary neutron star mergers

We explore magnetic-field amplification due to the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability during binary neutron star mergers. By performing high-resolution general relativistic magnetohydrodynamics simulations with a resolution of $17.5$ m for $4$--$5$ ms after the onset of the merger on the Japanese supercomputer "K", we find that an initial magnetic field of moderate maximum strength $10^{13}$ G is amplified at least by a factor of $\approx 10^3$. We also explore the saturation of the magnetic-field energy and our result shows that it is likely to be $\gtrsim 4 \times 10^{50}$ erg, which is $\gtrsim 0.1\%$ of the bulk kinetic energy of the merging binary neutron stars.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2015

Gravitational-wave cutoff frequencies of tidally disruptive neutron star-black hole binary mergers

Tidal disruption has a dramatic impact on the outcome of neutron star-black hole mergers. The phenomenology of these systems can be divided in three classes: nondisruptive, mildly disruptive or disruptive. The cutoff frequency of the gravitational radiation produced during the merger (which is potentially measurable by interferometric detectors) is very different in each regime, and when the merger is disuptive it carries information on the neutron star equation of state. Here we use semianalytical tools to derive a formula for the critical binary mass ratio $Q=M_{\rm BH}/M_{\rm NS}$ below which mergers are disruptive as a function of the stellar compactness $\mathcal{C}=M_{\rm NS}/R_{\rm NS}$ and the dimensionless black hole spin $χ$. We then employ a new gravitational waveform amplitude model, calibrated to $134$ general relativistic numerical simulations of binaries with black hole spin (anti-)aligned with the orbital angular momentum, to obtain a fit to the gravitational-wave cutoff frequency in the disruptive regime as a function of $\mathcal{C}$, $Q$ and $χ$. Our findings are important to build gravitational wave template banks, to determine whether neutron star-black hole mergers can emit electromagnetic radiation (thus helping multimessenger searches), and to improve event rate calculations for these systems.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2015

High-resolution magnetohydrodynamics simulation of black hole-neutron star merger: Mass ejection and short gamma-ray burst

We report results of a high-resolution numerical-relativity simulation for the merger of black hole-magnetized neutron star binaries on Japanese supercomputer "K". We focus on a binary that is subject to tidal disruption and subsequent formation of a massive accretion torus. We find the launch of thermally driven torus wind, subsequent formation of a funnel wall above the torus and a magnetosphere with collimated poloidal magnetic field, and high Blandford-Znajek luminosity. We show for the first time this picture in a self-consistent simulation. The turbulence-like motion induced by the non-axisymmetric magnetorotational instability as well as the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability inside the accretion torus works as an agent to drive the mass accretion and converts the accretion energy to thermal energy, which results in the generation of a strong wind. By an in-depth resolution study, we reveal that high resolution is essential to draw such a picture. We also discuss the implication for the r-process nucleosynthesis, the radioactively-powered transient emission, and short gamma-ray bursts.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2015

Aligned spin neutron star-black hole mergers: a gravitational waveform amplitude model

The gravitational radiation emitted during the merger of a black hole with a neutron star is rather similar to the radiation from the merger of two black holes when the neutron star is not tidally disrupted. When tidal disruption occurs, gravitational waveforms can be broadly classified in two groups, depending on the spatial extent of the disrupted material. Extending previous work by some of us, here we present a phenomenological model for the gravitational waveform amplitude in the frequency domain encompassing the three possible outcomes of the merger: no tidal disruption, "mild" and "strong" tidal disruption. The model is calibrated to 134 general-relativistic numerical simulations of binaries where the black hole spin is either aligned or antialigned with the orbital angular momentum. All simulations were produced using the SACRA code and piecewise polytropic neutron star equations of state. The present model can be used to determine when black-hole binary waveforms are sufficient for gravitational-wave detection, to extract information on the equation of state from future gravitational-wave observations, to obtain more accurate estimates of black hole-neutron star merger event rates, and to determine the conditions under which these systems are plausible candidates as central engines of gamma-ray bursts, macronovae and kilonovae.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2015

Dynamical mass ejection from black hole-neutron star binaries

We investigate properties of material ejected dynamically in the merger of black hole-neutron star binaries by numerical-relativity simulations. We systematically study the dependence of ejecta properties on the mass ratio of the binary, spin of the black hole, and equation of state of the neutron-star matter. Dynamical mass ejection is driven primarily by tidal torque, and the ejecta is much more anisotropic than that from binary neutron star mergers. In particular, the dynamical ejecta is concentrated around the orbital plane with a half opening angle of 10--20deg and often sweeps out only a half of the plane. The ejecta mass can be as large as ~0.1M_sun, and the velocity is subrelativistic with ~0.2--0.3c for typical cases. The ratio of the ejecta mass to the bound mass (disk and fallback components) is larger, and the ejecta velocity is larger, for larger values of the binary mass ratio, i.e., for larger values of the black-hole mass. The remnant black hole-disk system receives a kick velocity of O(100)km/s due to the ejecta linear momentum, and this easily dominates the kick velocity due to gravitational radiation. Structures of postmerger material, velocity distribution of the dynamical ejecta, fallback rates, and gravitational waves are also investigated. We also discuss the effect of ejecta anisotropy on electromagnetic counterparts, specifically a macronova/kilonova and synchrotron radio emission, developing analytic models.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2015

Black hole-neutron star binary merger: Dependence on black hole spin orientation and equations of state

We systematically performed numerical-relativity simulations for black hole (BH) - neutron star (NS) binary mergers with a variety of the BH spin orientation and equations of state (EOS) of the NS. The initial misalignment angles of the BH spin are chosen in the range of i_tilt,0 = 30--90[deg.]. We employed four models of NS EOS with which the compactness of the NS is in the range of C = M_NS/R_NS = 0.138--0.180, where M_NS and R_NS are the mass and the radius of the NS, respectively. The mass ratio of the BH to the NS, Q = M_BH/M_NS, and the dimensionless spin parameter of the BH, chi, are chosen to be Q = 5 and chi = 0.75, together with M_NS = 1.35 M_sun. We obtain the following results: (i) The inclination angle of i_tilt,0 < 70[deg.] and i_tilt,0 < 50[deg.] are required for the formation of a remnant disk with its mass larger than 0.1 M_sun for the case C = 0.140 and C = 0.160, respectively, while the disk mass is always smaller than 0.1M_sun for C = 0.175. The ejecta with its mass larger than 0.01 M_sun is obtained for i_tilt,0 < 85[deg.] with C = 0.140, for i_tilt,0 < 65[deg.] with C = 0.160, and for i_tilt,0 < 30[deg.] with C = 0.175. (ii) The rotational axis of the dense part of the remnant disk is approximately aligned with the remnant BH spin for i_tilt,0 = 30[deg.]. On the other hand, the disk axis is misaligned initially with ~ 30[deg.] for i_tilt,0 = 60[deg.], and the alignment with the remnant BH spin is achieved at ~ 50--60 ms after the onset of merger. The accretion time scale of the remnant disk is typically ~ 100 ms and depends only weakly on the misalignment angle and the EOS. (iii) The ejecta velocity is typically ~ 0.2--0.3c and depends only weakly on i_tilt,0 and the EOS of the NS, while the morphology of the ejecta depends on its mass. (iv) The gravitational-wave spectra contains the information of the NS compactness in the cutoff frequency for i_tilt,0 < 60[deg.].

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2015

The dynamical mass ejection from binary neutron star mergers: Radiation-hydrodynamics study in general relativity

We perform radiation-hydrodynamics simulations of binary neutron star mergers in numerical relativity on the Japanese "K" supercomputer, taking into account neutrino cooling and heating by an updated leakage-plus-transfer scheme for the first time. Neutron stars are modeled by three modern finite-temperature equations of state (EOS) developed by Hempel and his collaborators. We find that the properties of the dynamical ejecta of the merger such as total mass, average electron fraction, and thermal energy depend strongly on the EOS. Only for a soft EOS (the so-called SFHo), the ejecta mass exceeds $0.01M_{\odot}$. In this case, the distribution of the electron fraction of the ejecta becomes broad due to the shock heating during the merger. These properties are well-suited for the production of the solar-like $r$-process abundance. For the other stiff EOS (DD2 and TM1), for which a long-lived massive neutron star is formed after the merger, the ejecta mass is smaller than $0.01M_{\odot}$, although broad electron-fraction distributions are achieved by the positron capture and the neutrino heating.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2015

Exploring tidal effects of coalescing binary neutron stars in numerical relativity II: Longterm simulations

We perform new longterm (15-16 orbits) simulations of coalescing binary neutron stars in numerical relativity using an updated Einstein's equation solver, employing low-eccentricity initial data, and modeling the neutron stars by a piecewise polytropic equation of state. A convergence study shows that our new results converge more rapidly than the third order and using the determined convergence order, we construct an extrapolated waveform for which the estimated total phase error should be less than 1 radian. We then compare the extrapolated waveforms with those calculated by the latest effective-one-body (EOB) formalism in which the so-called tidal deformability, higher post-Newtonian corrections, and gravitational self-force effects are taken into account. We show that for a binary of compact neutron stars with their radius 11.1 km, the waveform by the EOB formalism agrees quite well with the numerical waveform so that the total phase error is smaller than 1 radian for the total phase of $\sim 200$ radian up to the merger. By contrast, for a binary of less compact neutron stars with their radius 13.6 km, the EOB and numerical waveforms disagree with each other in the last few wave cycles, resulting in the total phase error of $\sim 3$ radian.

gr-qc↗