Methods for relativistic self-gravitating fluids: From binary neutron stars to black hole-disks and magnetized rotating neutron stars

Abstract

The cataclysmic observations of event GW170817, first as gravitational waves along the inspiral motion of two neutron stars, then as a short $γ$-ray burst, and later as a kilonova, launched the era of multimessenger astronomy, and played a pivotal role in furthering our understanding on a number of longstanding questions. Numerical modelling of such multimessenger sources is an important tool to understand the physics of compact objects and, more generally, the physics of matter under extreme conditions. In this review we present a unified view of various techniques used to obtain equilibrium and quasiequilibrium solutions for three astrophysically relevant relativistic, self-gravitating fluid systems: Binary neutron stars, black hole-disks, and magnetized rotating neutron stars. These solutions are necessary not only for modeling such compact objects, but equally important, for providing self-consistent initial data in numerical relativity simulations. Instead of presenting the full details of the formulations and numerical algorithms, we focus on painting the broadbrush picture of the methods developed to address these problems, and facilitate future work in the area.