The Final Fate of Coalescing Binary Neutron Stars: Collapse to a Black Hole?

Coalescing compact binaries with neutron star (NS) or black hole (BH) components are important sources of gravitational waves for the laser-interferometer detectors currently under construction, and may also be sources of gamma-ray bursts at cosmological distances. This paper focuses on the final hydrodynamic coalescence and merger of NS–NS binaries, and addresses the question of whether black hole formation is the inevitable final fate of these systems.