Numerical relativity simulations of neutron star merger remnants using conservative mesh refinement

Abstract

We study equal and unequal-mass neutron star mergers by means of new numerical relativity simulations in which the general relativistic hydrodynamics solver employs an algorithm that guarantees mass conservation across the refinement levels of the computational mesh. We consider eight binary configurations with total mass $M=2.7\,M_\odot$, mass-ratios $q=1$ and $q=1.16$, and four different equation of states (EOSs), and one configuration with a stiff EOS, $M=2.5M_\odot$ and $q=1.5$. We focus on the post-merger dynamics and study the merger remnant, dynamical ejecta and the postmerger gravitational wave spectrum. Although most of the merger remnants form a hypermassive neutron star collapsing to a black hole+disk system on dynamical timescales, stiff EOSs can eventually produce a stable massive neutron star. Ejecta are mostly emitted around the orbital plane; favored by large mass ratios and softer EOS. The postmerger wave spectrum is mainly characterized by non-axisymmetric oscillations of the remnant. The stiff EOS configuration consisting of a $1.5M_\odot$ and a $1.0M_\odot$ neutron star shows a rather peculiar dynamics. During merger the companion star is very deformed; about~$\sim0.03M_\odot$ of rest-mass becomes unbound from the tidal tail due torque; and the merger remnant forms stable neutron star surrounded by a massive accretion disk $\sim0.3M_\odot$. Similar configurations might be particularly interesting for electromagnetic counterparts. Comparing results obtained with and without the conservative mesh refinement algorithm, we find that post-merger simulations can be affected by systematic errors if mass conservation is not enforced in the mesh refinement strategy. However, mass conservation also depends on grid details and on the artificial atmosphere setup. [abridged]