Binary neutron-star systems: From the Newtonian regime to the last stable orbit

We report on the first calculations of fully relativistic binary circular orbits to span a range of separation distances from the innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO), deeply inside the strong field regime, to a distance (similar to 200 km) where the system is accurately described by Newtonian dynamics. We consider a binary system composed of two identical corotating neutron stars, with 1.43 M. gravitational mass each in isolation. Using a conformally hat spatial metric we find solutions to the initial value equations that correspond to semi-stable circular orbits. At large distance, our numerical results agree exceedingly well with the Newtonian limit. We also present a self consistent determination of the ISCO for different stellar masses. [S0556-2821(98)04222-2].