GW170817 — Binary Neutron Star Merger Simulation
Interactive WebGL simulation of the GW170817 binary neutron star merger with 2.5 Post-Newtonian orbital corrections, tidal deformability (Λ̃ ≈ 300), and HMNS quasi-normal mode ringdown. All physics computed in real-time from peer-reviewed equations.
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Physics Implemented
Inspiral dynamics: Peters’ (1964) orbital decay formula with full 2.5 Post-Newtonian flux corrections from Blanchet (2006). RK4 numerical integration. Tidal deformability enters at 5PN and 6PN order via Flanagan & Hinderer (2008).
Gravitational wave strain: Leading-order quadrupole formula with 0.5PN amplitude correction. GW frequency evolves as fGW = 2forb from ~25 Hz to >1500 Hz.
Post-merger: Hypermassive neutron star quasi-normal mode ringdown at f2 ≈ 3.0 kHz with τQNM ≈ 10 ms damping (Bauswein et al. 2012). Kilonova ejecta separated into equatorial (lanthanide-rich, red) and polar (lanthanide-poor, blue) components matching AT2017gfo observations.
Source parameters: m1 = 1.46 M☉, m2 = 1.27 M☉, ℳ = 1.188 M☉, D = 40 Mpc, Λ̃ ≈ 300. From Abbott et al. (2019), Phys. Rev. X 9, 011001.
References: Peters, P.C. (1964) Phys. Rev. 136, B1224 · Blanchet, L. (2006) Living Rev. Relativity 9, 4 · Flanagan & Hinderer (2008) PRD 77, 021502 · Abbott et al. (2019) PRX 9, 011001 · Bauswein et al. (2012) PRD 86, 063001 · Metzger, B.D. (2017) Living Rev. Relativity 20, 3
Created by Samarjith Biswas ·
Built with Three.js & WebGL ·
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Samarjith Biswas 