Coalescing Neutron Stars -- a Step Towards Physical Models. I. Hydrodynamic Evolution and Gravitational-Wave Emission

We investigate the dynamics and evolution of coalescing neutron stars. Although the code (Piecewise Parabolic Method) is purely Newtonian, we do include the emission of gravitational waves and their backreaction on the hydrodynamic flow. The properties of neutron star matter are described by the physical equation of state of Lattimer \& Swesty (1991). Energy loss by all types of neutrinos and changes of the electron fraction due to the emission of electron neutrinos and antineutrinos are taken into account by an elaborate ``neutrino leakage scheme''. We simulate the coalescence of two identical, cool neutron stars with a baryonic mass of $\approx\!1.6\,M_\odot$ and a radius of $\approx\!15$~km and with an initial center-to-center distance of 42~km. The initial distributions of density and electron concentration are given from a model of a cold neutron star in hydrostatic equilibrium (central temperature about $8\,{\rm MeV}$). We investigate three cases which differ by the initial velocity distribution in the neutron stars, representing different cases of the neutron star spins relative to the direction of the orbital angular momentum vector. Within about 1~ms the neutron stars merge into a rapidly spinning ($P_{\rm spin}\approx 1$~ms), high-density body ($\rho\approx 10^{14}$~g/cm$^3$) with a surrounding thick disk of material with densities $\rho\approx 10^{10}-10^{12}$~g/cm$^3$ and orbital velocities of~0.3--0.5~c. In this work we evaluate the models in detail with respect to the gravitational wave emission using the quadrupole approximation. In a forthcoming paper we will concentrate on the neutrino emission and implications for gamma-ray bursters. A maximum luminosity in excess of $10^{55}$~erg/s is reached for about 1~ms.