Gravitational-wave driven instability of rotating relativistic stars

TL;DR

This paper reviews the stability of rotating relativistic stars, focusing on r-mode instabilities that could influence neutron star spin-down and produce detectable gravitational waves.

Contribution

It provides a detailed discussion of recent research on r-mode instabilities and their potential observational signatures in gravitational wave astronomy.

Findings

R-modes can cause significant spin-down in rapidly rotating neutron stars.

Gravitational waves emitted by r-modes may be detectable with current or future observatories.

R-mode instability is a key factor in neutron star evolution and gravitational wave signals.

Abstract

A brief review of the stability of rotating relativistic stars is followed by a more detailed discussion of recent work on an instability of r-modes, modes of rotating stars that have axial parity in the slow-rotation limit. These modes may dominate the spin-down of neutron stars that are rapidly rotating at birth, and the gravitational waves they emit may be detectable.