Abstract

With the detection of the binary neutron star merger GW170817 a new era of multi-messenger astronomy started. GW170817 proved that neutron star mergers are ideal laboratories to constrain the equation of state of cold supranuclear matter, to study the central engines of short GRBs, and to understand the origin and production of heavy elements. In this talk, we discuss how to study the last milliseconds before and after the merger with full 3D numerical relativity simulations to gain information about the emitted gravitational wave and electromagnetic signal. We explain how we access previously inaccessible regions of the binary neutron star parameter space. We also show that recent advancements allow us to improve the accuracy of the simulation and decrease the phase error of the obtained gravitational waveforms. With these updates our waveforms can be used for validating, improving and developing semi-analytical waveform models.