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Confronting gravitational-wave observations with modern nuclear physics constraints

  • Regular Article - Theoretical Physics
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Abstract.

Multi-messenger observations of neutron star (NS) mergers have the potential to revolutionize nuclear astrophysics. They will improve our understanding of nucleosynthesis, provide insights about the equation of state (EOS) of strongly interacting matter at high densities, and enable tests of the theory of gravity and of dark matter. Here, we focus on the EOS, where both gravitational waves (GWs) from neutron-star mergers and X-ray observations from space-based detectors such as NICER will provide more stringent constraints on the structure of neutron stars. Furthermore, recent advances in nuclear theory have enabled reliable calculations of the EOS at low densities using effective field theory based Hamiltonians and advanced techniques to solve the quantum many-body problem. In this paper, we address how the first observation of GWs from GW170817 can be combined with modern calculations of the EOS to extract useful insights about the EOS of matter encountered inside neutron stars. We analyze the impact of various uncertainties, the role of phase transitions in the NS core, and discuss how future observations will improve our understanding of dense matter.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Theoretical Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, 87545, Los Alamos, NM, USA

    I. Tews

  2. Institut de Physique Nucléaire de Lyon, CNRS/IN2P3, Université de Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, F-69622, Villeurbanne Cedex, France

    J. Margueron

  3. Institute for Nuclear Theory, University of Washington, 98195-1550, Seattle, WA, USA

    S. Reddy

  4. JINA-CEE, Michigan State University, 48823, East Lansing, MI, USA

    S. Reddy

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  1. I. Tews
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  2. J. Margueron
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  3. S. Reddy
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Correspondence to I. Tews.

Additional information

Communicated by D. Blaschke

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This manuscript has no associated data or the data will not be deposited. [Authors' comment: All data generated during this study are contained in this published article.]

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Tews, I., Margueron, J. & Reddy, S. Confronting gravitational-wave observations with modern nuclear physics constraints. Eur. Phys. J. A 55, 97 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/i2019-12774-6

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