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Binary neutron star merger simulations with neutrino transport using gr-athena++

Boris Daszuta1,*, Sebastiano Bernuzzi1,†, Maximilian Jacobi1, Eduardo M. Gutiérrez2,3, Peter Hammond5,4,2,3, William Cook1, and David Radice2,3,6

  • *Contact author: boris.daszuta@uni-jena.de
  • †Contact author: sebastiano.bernuzzi@uni-jena.de
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Phys. Rev. D 114, 044062 – Published 20 August, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/9zlj-fngj

Abstract

We present general-relativistic radiation magnetohydrodynamics simulations of binary neutron star mergers performed with gr-athena++. Neutrino transport is treated using a moment-based, energy-integrated scheme (M1), augmented by neutrino number density evolution. Our implementation is validated through an extensive suite of standard tests and demonstrated to perform robustly under adaptive mesh refinement. As a first application, we simulate the gravitational collapse of a uniformly rotating, magnetized neutron star, demonstrating stable radiation evolution through apparent-horizon formation using a novel excision technique based on the tapering of state vector evolution inside the horizon. To further test robustness in highly dynamic environments, we apply our code to two demanding binary neutron star merger scenarios. We investigate a long-lived remnant with the DD2 equation of state, evolved with full general-relativistic magnetohydrodynamics and M1 neutrino transport. Following this, a gravitational collapse scenario with the SFHo equation of state is explored. We showcase long-term stable evolution on neutrino cooling time-scales, demonstrating robust handling of excision and stable evolution of the postcollapse accretion phase in three-dimensional mergers with magnetic fields and neutrino radiation.

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Phys. Rev. D 114, 044062– Published 20 August, 2026
  • Received 4 March 2026
  • Accepted 23 June 2026
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