Computing the complete gravitational wavetrain from relativistic binary inspiral - art. no. 084030

We present a new method for generating the nonlinear gravitational wavetrai n from the late inspiral (pre-coalescence) phase of a binary neutron star s ystem by means of a numerical evolution calculation in full general relativ ity. In a prototype calculation, we produce 214 wave cycles from corotating polytropes, representing the final part of the inspiral phase prior to rea ching the ISCO. Our method is based on the inequality that the orbital deca y time scale due to gravitational radiation is much longer than an orbital period and the approximation that gravitational radiation has little effect on the structure of the stars. We employ quasiequilibrium (QE) sequences o f binaries in circular orbit for the matter source in our held evolution co de. We compute the gravity-wave energy flux and, from this, the inspiral ra te at a discrete set of binary separations. From these data, we construct t he gravitational waveform as a continuous wavetrain. Finally, we discuss th e limitations of our current calculation, planned improvements, and potenti al applications of our method to other inspiral scenarios.