The Final Fate of Coalescing Binary Neutron Stars: Collapse to a Black Hole?

Coalescing compact binaries with neutron star (NS) or black hole (BH) components are important sources of gravitational waves for the laser-interferometer detectors currently under construction, and may also be sources of gamma-ray bursts at cosmological distances. This paper focuses on the final hydrodynamic coalescence and merger of NS--NS binaries, and addresses the question of whether black hole formation is the inevitable final fate of these systems.