Figure 6: Dimensionless binding energy vs. dimensionless orbital frequency , where
is the total ADM (Arnowitt–Deser–Misner) mass of the two components at infinite separation,
for two QE NS-NS sequences that assume a piecewise polytropic NS EOS. The equal-mass case
assumes for both NSs, while the unequal-mass case assumes
and . The thick curves are the numerical results, while the thin curves show the
results from the 3PN approximation. The lack of any minimum suggests that instability for these
configurations occurs at the onset of mass shedding, and not through a secular orbital instability.
Image reproduced by permission from Figure 16 of [305], copyright by AAS.
|