ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines how stellar models are constructed that rotate at their respective self-consistent Kepler frequencies. Self-consistency is encountered because the general relativistic expression for ΩK is given in terms of stellar quantities which themselves depend on ΩK. The chapter compares a number of different properties of neutron stars, spinning at their respective Kepler frequencies, constructed from Hartle’s improved method with the corresponding properties obtained from the numerical solution of Albert Einstein’s unapproximated equations. Hartle’s method appears to be a very practical tool for testing models for the nuclear equation of state with data on pulsar periods. The chapter analyzes numerous properties of sequences of rotating neutron stars. It discusses the gravitational-radiation reaction driven instability in rotating neutron stars which sets a more stringent limit on stable rapid rotation than mass shedding, depending on the star’s history.
