Speaker
Description
Binary neutron star mergers (BNSM) are cosmic collisions of compact
stars associated to powerful gravitational and electromagnetic
astronomical transients. Multimessenger observations of BNSMs promise
to deliver unprecedented insights on fundamental physics questions,
including constraints on dense matter models and the production of
heavy elements. Detailed theoretical predictions of the merger
dynamics are a crucial aspect for extracting information from such
observations. This talk reviews recent progress on the modeling of
BNSMs using simulations in 3+1 numerical general relativity. In the
first part, I will discuss predictions for the complete
(inspiral-merger-postmerger) gravitational-wave spectrum and their
application in gravitational-wave astronomy. In the second part, I
will discuss merger remnants and mass ejecta, the mechanisms behind
kilonova light and the application of these results to the analyses of
astrophysical data.
