General relativistic magnetohydrodynamics simulations for binary neutron star mergers

TL;DR

This paper reviews the progress and findings of numerical simulations of magnetized binary neutron star mergers in general relativity, highlighting their importance for gravitational wave detection and astrophysics.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of nearly two decades of simulation work, summarizing advancements and the role of magnetohydrodynamics in neutron star mergers.

Findings

Numerical simulations have significantly advanced understanding of neutron star mergers.

Magnetohydrodynamics effects are crucial in modeling gravitational wave signals.

Progress from 2008 to 2024 has improved simulation sophistication.

Abstract

Binary neutron star mergers used to be the most promising candidate for gravitational waves for ground-based gravitational wave detectors, such as advanced LIGO and advanced VIRGO. This was proved by the detection of gravitational waves from a binary neutron star merger in 2017. Numerical modeling is pivotal in predicting and interpreting binary neutron star mergers. This chapter reviews the progress of fully general relativistic magnetized binary neutron star merger simulations. From 2008 to 2024, about forty numerical relativity simulations of magnetized binary neutron star mergers were conducted with a different level of sophistication. This chapter aims to comprehensively view the magnetohydrodynamics effect in binary neutron star mergers by reviewing all the related works.