BINARY NEUTRON-STARS IN GENERAL-RELATIVITY - QUASI-EQUILIBRIUM MODELS

We perform fully relativistic calculations of binary neutron stars in quasiequilibrium circular orbits. We integrate Einstein's equations to gether with the relativistic equation of hydrostatic equilibrium to so lve the initial-value problem for equal-mass binaries of arbitrary sep aration. We construct sequences of constant rest mass and identify the innermost stable circular orbit and its angular velocity. We find tha t the quasiequilibrium maximum allowed mass of a neutron star in a clo se binary is slightly larger than in isolation.