Oscillations of rapidly rotating relativistic stars

Nonaxisymmetric oscillations of rapidly rotating relativistic stars are studied using the Cowling approximation. The oscillation spectra have been estimated by Fourier transforming the evolution equations describing the perturbations. This is the first study of its kind and provides information on the effect of fast rotation on the oscillation spectra while it offers the possibility of studying the complete problem by including space-time perturbations. Our study includes both axisymmetric and nonaxisymmetric perturbations and provides limits for the onset of the secular bar mode rotational instability. We also present approximate formulas for the dependence of the oscillation spectrum from rotation. The results suggest that it is possible to extract the relativistic star's parameters from the observed gravitational wave spectrum.