Gravitational waves from deformed neutron stars: mountains and tides

TL;DR

This paper explores how neutron stars can be deformed by mountains and tidal forces, affecting gravitational wave signals, and introduces new modeling approaches to better understand these phenomena.

Contribution

It presents a novel scheme for modeling neutron star deformations and analyzes the impact of the crust on tidal deformability in gravitational wave emission.

Findings

Deformation force and equation of state influence mountain support.

Crust remains largely intact until merger, with negligible effect on tidal deformability.

Evidence for gravitational radiation in accreting neutron star systems.

Abstract

With the remarkable advent of gravitational-wave astronomy, we have shed light on previously shrouded events: compact binary coalescences. Neutron stars are promising (and confirmed) sources of gravitational radiation and it proves timely to consider the ways in which these stars can be deformed. Gravitational waves provide a unique window through which to examine neutron-star interiors and learn more about the equation of state of ultra-dense nuclear matter. In this work, we study two relevant scenarios for gravitational-wave emission: neutron stars that host (non-axially symmetric) mountains and neutron stars deformed by the tidal field of a binary partner. Although they have yet to be seen with gravitational waves, rotating neutron stars have long been considered potential sources. By considering the observed spin distribution of accreting neutron stars with a phenomenological model for the spin evolution, we find evidence for gravitational radiation in these systems. We study how mountains are modelled in both Newtonian and relativistic gravity and introduce a new scheme to resolve issues with previous approaches to this problem. The crucial component of this scheme is the deforming force that gives the star its non-spherical shape. We find that the force (which is a proxy for the star's formation history), as well as the equation of state, plays a pivotal role in supporting the mountains. Considering a scenario that has been observed with gravitational waves, we calculate the structure of tidally deformed neutron stars, focusing on the impact of the crust. We find that the effect on the tidal deformability is negligible, but the crust will remain largely intact up until merger.