By browsing through the literature one realizes that the
numerical study of gravitational collapse has been neatly divided
between two main communities since the early investigations.
First, the
computational astrophysics community
has traditionally focused on the physics of the (type II/Ib/Ic)
supernova mechanism, i.e., collapse of unstable stellar iron
cores followed by a bounce and explosion. Nowadays, numerical
simulations are highly developed, as they include rotation and
detailed state-of-the-art microphysics (e.g., EOS and
sophisticated treatments for neutrino transport). These studies
are currently performed, routinely, in multi-dimensions with
advanced HRSC schemes. Progress in this direction has been
achieved, however, at the expense of accuracy in the treatment of
the hydrodynamics and the gravitational field, by using Newtonian
physics. In this approach the emission of gravitational radiation
is computed through the quadrupole formula. For reviews of the
current status in this direction see [191,
134
] and references therein.
On the other hand, the
numerical relativity community
has been more interested, since the beginning, in highlighting
those aspects of the collapse problem having to do with
relativistic gravity, in particular, the emission of
gravitational radiation from non-spherical collapse (see [206] for a recent
Living Reviews
article on gravitational radiation from gravitational collapse).
Much of the effort has focused on developing reliable numerical
schemes to solve the gravitational field equations and much less
emphasis, if any, has been given to the details of the
microphysics of the collapse. In addition, this approach has
mostly considered gravitational collapse leading to black hole
formation, employing relativistic hydrodynamics and gravity.
Quite surprisingly, both approaches have barely interacted over
the years, except for a handful of simulations in spherical
symmetry. Nevertheless, numerical relativity is steadily reaching
a state in which it is not unrealistic to expect a much closer
interaction in the near future (see, e.g., [262,
259
,
89
,
260
] and references therein).
However, the path to reach such conclusions has been mostly
delineated from numerical simulations in one spatial dimension.
Fully relativistic simulations of microphysically detailed core
collapse off spherical symmetry are still absent and they might
well introduce some modifications. The broad picture described
above has been demonstrated in multi-dimensions using
sophisticated Newtonian models, as is documented in [191].
Spherically symmetric simulations.
May and White's formulation and their corresponding
one-dimensional code formed the basis of most spherically
symmetric codes built to study the collapse problem.
Wilson [299] investigated the effect of neutrino transport on stellar
collapse, concluding that, in contrast to previous results, heat
conduction by neutrinos does not produce the ejection of
material [60,
14]. The code solved the coupled set of hydrodynamic and Einstein
equations, supplemented with a Boltzmann transport equation to
describe the neutrino flow. Van Riper [293] used a spherically symmetric general relativistic code to study
adiabatic collapse of stellar cores, considering the purely
hydrodynamical bounce as the preferred explosion mechanism. The
important role of general relativistic effects to produce
collapses otherwise absent in Newtonian simulations was
emphasized. Bruenn [49
] developed a code in which the neutrino transport was handled
with an approximation, the multigroup flux-limited diffusion.
Baron et al. [24
] obtained a successful and very energetic explosion for a model
in which the value of the incompressibility modulus of symmetric
nuclear matter at zero temperature was particularly small,
(its precise value, nowadays preferred around
[107], is still a matter of debate). Mayle et al. [174] computed neutrino spectra from stellar collapse to stable
neutron stars for different collapse models using, as in [49
], multigroup flux-limited diffusion for the neutrino transport.
Van Riper [294
] and Bruenn [50
] verified that a softer supranuclear EOS, combined with general
relativistic hydrodynamics, increases the chances for a prompt
explosion. In [249
,
248
] and [178
] the neutrino transport was first handled without approximation
by using a general relativistic Boltzmann equation. Whereas
in [249,
248] the neutrino transport is described by moments of the general
relativistic Boltzmann equation in polar slicing
coordinates [22
], [178] used maximal slicing coordinates. Miralles et al. [184
], employing a realistic EOS based upon a Hartree-Fock
approximation for Skyrme-type nuclear forces at densities above
nuclear density, found that the explosion was favoured by soft
EOS, a result qualitatively similar to that of Baron et
al. [24
], who used a phenomenological EOS. Swesty et al. [280] also focused on the role of the nuclear EOS in stellar collapse
on prompt timescales. Contrary to previous results they found
that the dynamics of the shock is almost independent of the
nuclear incompressibility once the EOS is not unphysically
softened as in earlier simulations (e.g., [293
,
24,
294,
50,
184]). Swesty and coworkers used a finite temperature compressible
liquid drop model EOS for the nuclear matter component [148]. For the shock to propagate promptly to a large radius they
found that the EOS must be very soft at densities just above
nuclear densities, which is inconsistent with the
neutron star mass constraint imposed by observations of the
binary pulsar PSR 1913+16.
From the above discussion it is clear that numerical simulations demonstrate a strong sensitivity of the explosion mechanism to the details of the post-bounce evolution: general relativity, the nuclear EOS and the properties of the nascent neutron star, the treatment of the neutrino transport, and the neutrino-matter interaction. Recently, state-of-the-art treatments of the neutrino transport have been achieved, even in the general relativistic case, by solving the Boltzmann equation in connection with the hydrodynamics, instead of using multigroup flux-limited diffusion [177, 232, 233, 154]. The results of the few spherically symmetric simulations available show, however, that the models do not explode, neither in the Newtonian or in the general relativistic case. Therefore, computationally expensive multi-dimensional simulations with Boltzmann neutrino transport, able to account for convective effects, are needed to draw further conclusions on the viability of the neutrino-driven explosion mechanism.
From the numerical point of view, many of the above
investigations used artificial viscosity techniques to handle
shock waves. Together with a detailed description of the
microphysics, the correct numerical modeling of the shock wave is
the major issue in stellar collapse. In this context, the use of
HRSC schemes, specifically designed to capture discontinuities,
is much more recent, starting in the late 1980s with the
Newtonian simulations of Fryxell et al. [103], which used an Eulerian second-order PPM scheme (see [191] for a review of the present status). There are only a few
relativistic simulations, so far restricted to spherical
symmetry [129,
244,
211].
Martí et al. [162] implemented Glaister's approximate Riemann solver [106] in a Lagrangian Newtonian hydrodynamical code. They performed a
comparison of the energetics of a stellar collapse simulation
using this HRSC scheme and a standard May and White code with
artificial viscosity, for the same initial model, grid size and
EOS. They found that the simulation employing a Godunov-type
scheme produced larger kinetic energies than that corresponding
to the artificial viscosity scheme, with a factor of two
difference in the maximum of the infalling velocity. Motivated by
this important difference, Janka et al. [136
] repeated this computation with a different EOS, using a PPM
second-order Godunov-type scheme, disagreeing with Martí et
al. [162]. The state-of-the-art implementation of the tensorial
artificial viscosity terms in [136], together with the very fine numerical grids employed
(unrealistic for three-dimensional simulations), could be the
reason for the discrepancies.
As mentioned in Section
2.1.3, Godunov-type methods were first used to solve the equations of
general relativistic hydrodynamics in [163], where the characteristic fields of the one-dimensional
(spherically symmetric) system were derived. The first
astrophysical application was stellar collapse. In [38
] the hydrodynamic equations were coupled to the Einstein
equations in spherical symmetry. The field equations were
formulated as a first-order flux-conservative hyperbolic system
for a harmonic gauge [39], somehow ``resembling'' the hydrodynamic equations. HRSC
schemes were applied to both systems simultaneously (only coupled
through the source terms of the equations). Results for simple
models of adiabatic collapse can be found in [161,
38,
126].
A comprehensive study of adiabatic, one-dimensional core
collapse using explicit upwind HRSC schemes was presented
in [244] (see [309] for a similar computation using implicit schemes). In this
investigation the equations for the hydrodynamics and the
geometry are written using radial gauge polar slicing
(Schwarzschild-type) coordinates. The collapse is modeled with an
ideal gas EOS with a non-constant adiabatic index, which depends
on the density as
, where
is the bounce density, and
if
and
otherwise [293
]. A set of animations of the simulations presented in [244
] is included in the four movies in Figure
4
. They correspond to the rather stiff Model B of [244
]:
,
, and
. The initial model is a white dwarf having a gravitational mass
of
. The animations in Figure
4
show the time evolution of the radial profiles of the following
fields: velocity (top-left), logarithm of the rest-mass density
(top-right), gravitational mass (bottom-left), and the square of
the lapse function (bottom-right).
The movies show that the shock is sharply resolved and free of
spurious oscillations. The radius of the inner core at the time
of maximum compression, at which the infall velocity is maximum (v
=-0.62
c), is
. The gravitational mass of the inner core at the time of maximum
compression is
. The minimum value that the quantity
reaches is 0.14, which indicates the highly relativistic
character of these simulations (at the surface of a typical
neutron star the value of the lapse function squared is
).
Axisymmetric Newtonian simulations.
Beyond spherical symmetry most of the existing
simulations of core collapse supernova are Newtonian.
Axisymmetric investigations have been performed by [190,
37,
42
] using a realistic EOS and some treatment of weak interaction
processes, but neglecting neutrino transport, and by [135,
188,
132,
101,
102] employing some approximate description of neutrino transport.
In addition, [84,
310,
319
] have performed Newtonian parameter studies of the axisymmetric
collapse of rotating polytropes.
Among the more detailed multi-dimensional non-relativistic
hydrodynamical simulations are those performed by the
MPA/Garching group (an on-line sample can be found at their
website [189]). As mentioned earlier, these include advanced microphysics and
employ accurate HRSC integration schemes. To illustrate the
degree of sophistication achieved in Newtonian simulations, we
present in the movie in Figure
5
an animation of the early evolution of a core collapse supernova
explosion up to
after core bounce and shock formation (Figure
5
depicts just one intermediate snapshot at
). The movie shows the evolution of the entropy within the
innermost
of the star.
The initial data used in these calculations is taken from the
pre-collapse model of a blue supergiant star in [308]. The computations begin
after core bounce from a one-dimensional model of [51]. This model is obtained with the one-dimensional general
relativistic code mentioned previously [49], which includes a detailed treatment of the neutrino physics
and a realistic EOS, and which is able to follow core collapse,
bounce, and the associated formation of the supernova shock.
Because of neutrino cooling and energy losses due to the
dissociation of iron nuclei, the shock initially stalls inside
the iron core.
The movie shows how the stalling shock is ``revived'' by neutrinos streaming from the outer layers of the hot, nascent neutron star in the center. A negative entropy gradient builds up between the so called ``gain-radius'', which is the position where cooling of hot gas by neutrino emission switches into net energy gain by neutrino absorption, and the shock further out. Convective instabilities therefore set in, which are characterized by large rising blobs of neutrino-heated matter and cool, narrow downflows. The convective energy transport increases the efficiency of energy deposition in the post-shock region by transporting heated material near the shock and cooler matter near the gain radius where the heating is strongest. The freshly heated matter then rises again while the shock is distorted by the upward streaming bubbles. The reader is addressed to [138] for a more detailed description of a more energetic initial model.
Axisymmetric relativistic simulations. Previous investigations in general relativistic rotational core collapse were mainly concerned with the question of black hole formation under idealized conditions (see Section 4.1.2), but none of those studies has really addressed the problem of supernova core collapse, which proceeds from white dwarf densities to neutron star densities and involves core bounce, shock formation, and shock propagation.
Wilson [301] first computed neutron star bounces of
polytropes, and measured the gravitational wave emission. The
initial configurations were either prolate or slightly aspherical
due to numerical errors of an otherwise spherical collapse.
More than twenty years later, and with no other simulations in
between, the first comprehensive numerical study of relativistic
rotational supernova core collapse in axisymmetry has been
performed by Dimmelmeier et al. [64,
65,
66,
67
], who computed the gravitational radiation emitted in such
events. The Einstein equations were formulated using the
so-called conformally flat metric approximation [304
]. Correspondingly, the hydrodynamic equations were cast as the
first-order flux-conservative hyperbolic system described in
Section
2.1.3
. Details of the methodology and of the numerical code are given
in [66
].
Dimmelmeier et al. [67] have simulated the evolution of 26 models in both Newtonian and
relativistic gravity. The initial configurations are
differentially rotating relativistic 4/3-polytropes in
equilibrium, which have a central density of
. Collapse is initiated by decreasing the adiabatic index to some
prescribed fixed value
with
. The EOS consists of a polytropic and a thermal part for a more
realistic treatment of shock waves. Any microphysics, such as
electron capture and neutrino transport, is neglected. The
simulations show that the three different types of rotational
supernova core collapse (and their associated gravitational
waveforms) identified in previous Newtonian simulations by
Zwerger and Müller [319
] - regular collapse, multiple bounce collapse, and rapid
collapse - are also present in relativistic gravity. However,
rotational core collapse with multiple bounces is only possible
in a much narrower parameter range in general relativity.
Relativistic gravity has, furthermore, a qualitative impact on
the dynamics: If the density increase due to the deeper
relativistic potential is sufficiently large, a collapse that is
stopped by centrifugal forces at subnuclear densities (and thus
undergoes multiple bounces) in a Newtonian simulation becomes a
regular, single bounce collapse in relativistic gravity. Such
collapse type transitions have important consequences for the
maximum gravitational wave signal amplitude. Moreover, in several
of the relativistic models discussed in [67
], the rotation rate of the compact remnant exceeds the critical
value at which Maclaurin spheroids become secularly, and in some
cases even dynamically, unstable against triaxial
perturbations.
The movie presented in Figure
6
shows the time evolution of a multiple bounce model (model
A2B4G1 in the notation of [66]), with a type II gravitational wave signal. The left panel
shows isocontours of the logarithm of the density together with
the corresponding meridional velocity field distribution. The two
panels on the right show the time evolution of the gravitational
wave signal (top panel) and of the central rest-mass density. In
the animation the ``camera'' follows the multiple bounces by
zooming in and out. The panels on the right show how each burst
of gravitational radiation coincides with the time of bounce of
the collapsing core. The oscillations of the nascent
proto-neutron star are therefore imprinted on the gravitational
waveform. Additional animations of the simulations performed
by [67] can be found at the MPA's website [189
].
The relativistic models analyzed by Dimmelmeier et al. [67] cover almost the same range of gravitational wave amplitudes (
for a source at a distance of
) and frequencies (
) as the corresponding Newtonian ones [319
]. Averaged over all models, the total energy radiated in the
form of gravitational waves is
in the relativistic case, and
in the Newtonian case. For all collapse models that are of the
same type in both Newtonian and relativistic gravity, the
gravitational wave signal in relativistic gravity is of lower
amplitude. If the collapse type changes, either weaker or
stronger signals are found in the relativistic case. Therefore,
the prospects for detection of gravitational wave signals from
axisymmetric supernova rotational core collapse do not improve
when taking into account relativistic gravity. The signals are
within the sensitivity range of the first generation laser
interferometer detectors if the source is located within the
Local Group. An on-line waveform catalogue for all models
analyzed by Dimmelmeier et al. [67] is available at the MPA's website [189]. Finally, we note that a program to extend these simulations to
full general relativity (relaxing the conformally flat metric
assumption) has been very recently started by Shibata [260
].
Three-dimensional simulations.
To date, there are no three-dimensional relativistic
simulations of gravitational collapse in the context of supernova
core collapse yet available. All the existing computations have
employed Newtonian physics. This situation, however, might change
in the near future, as very recently the first fully relativistic
three-dimensional simulations of gravitational collapse leading
to black hole formation have been accomplished, for rapidly
rotating, supermassive neutron stars [262] and supermassive stars [265
] (see Section
4.1.2), for the head-on collision of two neutron stars [183
], and for the coalescence of neutron star binaries [258
,
266
,
267
] (see Section
4.3).
Concerning Newtonian studies, Bonazzola and Marck [42] performed pioneering three-dimensional simulations, using
pseudo-spectral methods that are very accurate and free of
numerical or intrinsic viscosity. They confirmed the low amount
of energy radiated in gravitational waves regardless of the
initial conditions of the collapse: axisymmetric, rotating or
tidally deformed (see also [190]). This result only applies to the pre-bounce phase of the
supernova collapse as the simulations did not consider shock
propagation after bounce. More recently, [234,
48] have extended the work of [319] studying, with two different PPM hydrodynamics codes, the
dynamical growth of non-axisymmetric (bar mode) instabilities
appearing in rotational post-collapse cores. A relativistic
extension has been performed by [261] (see Section
4.3.1).
Spherically symmetric simulations.
Van Riper [293], using a (Lagrangian) May and White code, analyzed the mass
division between the formation of a neutron star or a black hole
after gravitational collapse. For the typical (cold) EOS used,
the critical state was found to lie between the collapses of
and
cores.
In [255], a one-dimensional code based on Wilson's hydrodynamical
formulation was used to simulate a general relativistic
(adiabatic) collapse to a black hole. The fluid equations were
finite-differenced in a mixed Eulerian-Lagrangian form with the
introduction of an arbitrary ``grid velocity'' to ensure
sufficient resolution throughout the entire collapse. The
Einstein equations were formulated following the ADM equations.
Isotropic coordinates and a maximal time-slicing condition were
used to avoid the physical singularity once the black hole forms.
Due to the non-dynamical character of the gravitational field in
the case of spherical symmetry (i.e., the metric variables can be
computed at every time step solving elliptic equations), the code
developed by [255] could follow relativistic configurations for many collapse
timescales
after the initial appearance of an event horizon.
A Lagrangian scheme based on the Misner and Sharp [185] formulation for spherically symmetric gravitational collapse
(as in [293]) was developed by Miller and Motta [181
] and later by Baumgarte et al. [26
]. The novelty of these codes was the use of an outgoing null
coordinate
u
(an ``observer-time'' coordinate, as suggested previously
by [124
]) instead of the usual Schwarzschild time
t
appearing in the Misner and Sharp equations. Outgoing null
coordinates are ideally suited to study black hole formation as
they never cross the black hole event horizon. In these codes,
the Hernández-Misner equations [124] (or, alternatively, the Misner-Sharp equations) were solved by
an explicit finite difference scheme similar to the one used
by [293
]. In [181
], the collapse of an unstable polytrope to a black hole was
first achieved using null slicing. In [26
], the collapse of a
polytrope with
was compared to the result of [293], using the Misner-Sharp equations and finding a 10% agreement.
This work showed numerically that the use of a retarded time
coordinate allows for stable evolutions after the black hole has
formed. The Lagrangian character of both codes has prevented
their multi-dimensional extension.
Linke et al. [156] analyzed the gravitational collapse of supermassive stars in
the range
. In the same spirit as in Refs. [181,
26], the coupled system of Einstein and fluid equations was solved
employing coordinates adapted to a foliation of the spacetime
with outgoing null hypersurfaces. From the computed neutrino
luminosities, estimates of the energy deposition by
-annihilation were obtained. Only a small fraction of this
energy is deposited near the surface of the star, where it could
cause the ultrarelativistic flow believed to be responsible for
GRBs. However, the simulations show that for collapsing
supermassive stars with masses larger than
, the energy deposition is at least two orders of magnitude too
small to explain the energetics of observed long-duration bursts
at cosmological redshifts.
The interaction of massless scalar fields with
self-gravitating relativistic stars was analyzed in [270] by means of fully dynamic numerical simulations of the
Einstein-Klein-Gordon perfect fluid system. A sequence of stable,
self-gravitating
K
=100,
N
=1 relativistic polytropes, increasing the central density from
to
(
) was built. Using a compactified spacetime foliation with
outgoing null cones, Siebel et al. [270] studied the fate of the relativistic stars when they are hit by
a strong scalar field pulse with a mass of the order of
, finding that the star is either forced to oscillate in its
radial modes of pulsation or to collapse to a black hole on a
dynamical timescale. The radiative signals, read off at future
null infinity, consist of several quasi-normal oscillations and a
late time power-law tail, in agreement with the results predicted
by (linear) perturbation analysis of wave propagation in an
exterior Schwarzschild geometry.
Axisymmetric simulations.
Beyond spherical symmetry the investigations of
black hole formation started with the work of Nakamura [193], who first simulated general relativistic rotating stellar
collapse. He adopted the (2+1)+1 formulation of the Einstein
equations in cylindrical coordinates and introduced regularity
conditions to avoid divergence behavior at coordinate
singularities (the plane
z
=0) [195]. The equations were finite-differenced using the donor cell
scheme plus Friedrichs-Lax type viscosity terms. Nakamura used a
``hypergeometric'' slicing condition (which reduces to maximal
slicing in spherical symmetry), which prevents the grid points
from hitting the singularity if a black hole forms. The
simulations could track the evolution of the collapse of a
``core'' of a massive star with different amounts of rotational
energy and an initial central density of
, up to the formation of a rotating black hole. However, the
resolution affordable due to limitations in computer resources (
grid points) was not high enough to compute the emitted
gravitational radiation. Note that the energy emitted in
gravitational waves is very small compared to the total rest mass
energy, which makes its accurate numerical computation very
challenging. In subsequent works, Nakamura [194] (see also [197]) considered a configuration consisting of a neutron star (
,
) with an accreted envelope of
, which was thought to mimic mass fall-back in a supernova
explosion. Rotation and infall velocity were added to such
configurations, simulating the evolution depending on the
prescribed rotation rates and rotation laws.
Bardeen, Stark, and Piran, in a series of papers [22,
276,
228,
277
], studied the collapse of rotating relativistic (
) polytropic stars to black holes, succeeding in computing the
associated gravitational radiation. The field and hydrodynamic
equations were formulated using the 3+1 formalism, with radial
gauge and a mixture of (singularity avoiding) polar and maximal
slicing. The initial model was a spherically symmetric
relativistic polytrope in equilibrium of mass
M, central density
, and radius
. Rotational collapse was induced by lowering the pressure in the
initial model by a prescribed fraction, and by simultaneously
adding an angular momentum distribution that approximates
rigid-body rotation. Their parameter space survey showed how
black hole formation (of the Kerr class) occurs only for angular
momenta less than a critical value. The numerical results also
demonstrated that the gravitational wave emission from
axisymmetric rotating collapse to a black hole was
, and that the general waveform shape was nearly independent of
the details of the collapse.
Evans [79], building on previous work by Dykema [74], also studied the axisymmetric gravitational collapse problem
for non-rotating matter configurations. His numerical scheme to
integrate the matter fields was more sophisticated than in
previous approaches, as it included monotonic upwind
reconstruction procedures and flux limiters. Discontinuities
appearing in the flow solution were stabilized by adding
artificial viscosity terms in the equations, following Wilson's
approach.
Most of the axisymmetric codes discussed so far adopted
spherical polar coordinates. Numerical instabilities are
encountered at the origin (r
=0) and at the polar axis (), where some fields diverge due to the coordinate singularities.
Evans made important contributions toward regularizing the
gravitational field equations in such situations [79]. These coordinate problems have deterred researchers from
building three-dimensional codes in spherical coordinates. In
this case, Cartesian coordinates are adopted which, despite the
desired property of being everywhere regular, present the
important drawback of not being adapted to the topology of
astrophysical systems. As a result, this has important
consequences on the grid resolution requirements. The only
extension of an axisymmetric 2+1 code in spherical coordinates to
three dimensions has been accomplished by Stark [275], although no applications in relativistic astrophysics have yet
been presented.
Recently, Alcubierre et al. [6] proposed a method (``cartoon'') that does not suffer from
stability problems at coordinate singularities and in which, in
essence, Cartesian coordinates are used even for axisymmetric
systems. Using this method, Shibata [259] investigated the effects of rotation on the criterion for
prompt adiabatic collapse of rigidly and differentially rotating
(
) polytropes to a black hole. Collapse of the initial approximate
equilibrium models (computed by assuming a conformally flat
spatial metric) was induced by a pressure reduction. In [259] it was shown that the criterion for black hole formation
depends strongly on the amount of angular momentum, but only
weakly on its (initial) distribution. Shibata also studied the
effects of shock heating using a gamma-law EOS, concluding that
it is important in preventing prompt collapse to black holes in
the case of large rotation rates. Using the same numerical
approach, Shibata and Shapiro [265] have recently studied the collapse of a uniformly rotating
supermassive star in general relativity. The simulations show
that the star, initially rotating at the mass-shedding limit,
collapses to form a supermassive Kerr black hole with a spin
parameter of
. Roughly 90% of the mass of the system is contained in the final
black hole, while the remaining matter forms a disk orbiting
around the hole.
Alternatively, existing axisymmetric codes employing the
characteristic formulation of the Einstein equations [305], such as the (vacuum) code presented in [109], do not share the axis instability problems of most 2+1 codes.
Hence, axisymmetric characteristic codes, once conveniently
coupled to hydrodynamics codes, are a promising way to study the
axisymmetric collapse problem. First steps in this direction are
reported in [269], where an axisymmetric Einstein-perfect fluid code is
presented. This code achieves global energy conservation for a
strongly perturbed neutron star spacetime, for which the total
energy radiated away by gravitational waves corresponds to a
significant fraction of the Bondi mass.
Three-dimensional simulations.
Hydrodynamical simulations of the collapse of
supermassive () uniformly rotating neutron stars to rotating black holes, using
the code discussed in Section
3.3.1, are presented in [262
]. The simulations show no evidence for massive disk formation or
outflows, which can be related to the moderate initial
compactness of the stellar models (
). A proof-of-principle of the capabilities of the code discussed
in Section
3.3.2
to study black hole formation is presented in [89
], where the gravitational collapse of a spherical, unstable,
relativistic polytrope is discussed. Similar tests with
differentially rotating polytropes are given in [73] for a recent artificial viscosity-based, three-dimensional
general relativistic hydrodynamics code.
Evans and Coleman [81] first observed critical phenomena in the spherical collapse of
radiation fluid, i.e., a fluid obeying an EOS
with
and
. The threshold of black hole formation was found for a critical
exponent
, in close agreement with that obtained in scalar field
collapse [56]. Their study used Schwarzschild coordinates in radial gauge and
polar slicing, and the hydrodynamic equations followed Wilson's
formulation. Subsequently, Maison [159], using a linear stability analysis of the critical solution,
showed that the critical exponent varies strongly with the
parameter
of the EOS. More recently, Neilsen and Choptuik [203], using a conservative form of the hydrodynamic equations and
HRSC schemes, revisited this problem. The use of a conservative
formulation and numerical schemes well adapted to describe
ultrarelativistic flows [204] made it possible to find evidence of the existence of critical
solutions for large values of the adiabatic index
(
), extending the previous upper limit.
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Numerical Hydrodynamics in General Relativity
José A. Font http://www.livingreviews.org/lrr-2003-4 © Max-Planck-Gesellschaft. ISSN 1433-8351 Problems/Comments to livrev@aei-potsdam.mpg.de |