Learning about Neutron-rich Matter with Gravitational Waves

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Speaker(s): Jocelyn Read

Astronomical observations of neutron stars inform our understanding of matter at the highest densities. Already, we have used gravitational-wave data from GW170817—the first signal from a neutron-star system—to constrain the equation of state of dense matter in neutron stars. More recently, the new heavy neutron-star merger GW190425 has indicated that the gravitational-wave population may include systems not previously observed as galactic binaries. As the mass of the components increases, higher densities of neutron-star matter play a role in the orbital dynamics. I will discuss current methods being used to explore the effect of tidal interactions on the neutron-star coalescence and then translating tidal information from the signal into matter properties in the component stars. I will discuss how these results fit with other neutron-star observations, outline prospects of learning about matter in the current Advanced-detector era, and extrapolate the potential next-generation gravitational-wave observatories have to map the phase diagram of dense neutron-rich matter.

Colloquium

Junior and senior physics majors attend our biweekly colloquium series, held on Tuesday afternoons at 4:30 p.m. in Shanahan B460. The talks are open to all students and to the public, and are frequently attended by scientists from the other Claremont Colleges, Cal Poly Pomona, and others. The series features speakers from a broad range of institutions and fields of physics.