Crustal failure during binary inspiral

TL;DR

This paper presents the first fully relativistic calculations of crustal strain in neutron stars during binary inspiral, revealing early failure in outer layers and implications for electromagnetic and gravitational-wave observations.

Contribution

It introduces the first relativistic model of crustal strain in neutron stars during inspiral using realistic equations of state.

Findings

Outer crust fails early in inspiral

Deep crust likely fails only near coalescence

Results impact electromagnetic and gravitational-wave astronomy

Abstract

We present the first fully relativistic calculations of the crustal strain induced in a neutron star by a binary companion at the late stages of inspiral, employing realistic equations of state for the fluid core and the solid crust. We show that while the deep crust is likely to fail only shortly before coalescence, there is a large variation in elastic strain, with the outermost layers failing relatively early on in the inspiral. We discuss the significance of the results for both electromagnetic and gravitational-wave astronomy.