We study the secular evolution and gravitational wave signature of a newly-formed, rapidly rotating neutron star. The neutron star may arise from core collapse in a massive star or from the accretion-induced collapse of a white dwarf. After a brief dynamical phase, the nascent neutron star settles into an axisymmetric, secularly unstable equilibrium state. Gravitational radiation drives the sta...

One of the outstanding issues of general relativity is that of the final state of gravitational collapse. Understandably, much has been written about spherical collapse , but comparatively less is known about non-spherical geometries. Thorne’s seminal analysis of cylindrical collapse 2 led him to formulate the hoop conjecture, which essentially states that horizons form when and only when the g...