Variations on Gravity - Time scales in compact object mergers

Compact object mergers, or their collisions in dense stellar environments, involve different time scales. Each of these has its own tempo and dictates a characteristic set of consequences which may, or may not, be observable in what we see as a gamma-ray burst (GRB). I detail here these stages, the state of our knowledge about them, and how they may be important for our understanding of this class of progenitors.