Viscous Dissipation and Heat Conduction in Binary Neutron-Star Mergers

Mark G. Alford, Luke Bovard, Matthias Hanauske, Luciano Rezzolla, and Kai Schwenzer
Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 041101 – Published 23 January 2018

Abstract

Inferring the properties of dense matter is one of the most exciting prospects from the measurement of gravitational waves from neutron star mergers. However, it requires reliable numerical simulations that incorporate viscous dissipation and energy transport as these can play a significant role in the survival time of the post-merger object. We calculate time scales for typical forms of dissipation and find that thermal transport and shear viscosity will not be important unless neutrino trapping occurs, which requires temperatures above 10 MeV and gradients over length scales of 0.1 km or less. On the other hand, if direct-Urca processes remain suppressed, leaving modified-Urca processes to establish flavor equilibrium, then bulk viscous dissipation could provide significant damping to density oscillations right after merger. When comparing with data from state-of-the-art merger simulations, we find that the bulk viscosity takes values close to its resonant maximum in a typical merger, motivating a more careful assessment of the role of bulk viscous dissipation in the gravitational-wave signal from merging neutron stars.

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  • Received 12 August 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.041101

© 2018 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Gravitation, Cosmology & AstrophysicsNuclear Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Mark G. Alford1, Luke Bovard2, Matthias Hanauske2,3, Luciano Rezzolla2,3, and Kai Schwenzer4,5,*

  • 1Physics Department, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, USA
  • 2Institut für Theoretische Physik, Max-von-Laue-Strasse 1, 60438 Frankfurt, Germany
  • 3Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies, Ruth-Moufang-Strasse 1, 60438 Frankfurt, Germany
  • 4Theoretical Astrophysics (IAAT), Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen 72076, Germany
  • 5Department of Astronomy and Space Sciences, Istanbul University, Beyazıt, 34119 Istanbul, Turkey

  • *Corresponding author. kai.schwenzer@istanbul.edu.tr

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Vol. 120, Iss. 4 — 26 January 2018

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