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Gravitational-Wave Constraints on the Neutron-Star-Matter Equation of State

Eemeli Annala, Tyler Gorda, Aleksi Kurkela, and Aleksi Vuorinen
Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 172703 – Published 25 April 2018
Physics logo See Synopsis: Gravitational Waves Shed Light on Dense Nuclear Matter

Abstract

The detection of gravitational waves originating from a neutron-star merger, GW170817, by the LIGO and Virgo Collaborations has recently provided new stringent limits on the tidal deformabilities of the stars involved in the collision. Combining this measurement with the existence of two-solar-mass stars, we generate a generic family of neutron-star-matter equations of state (EOSs) that interpolate between state-of-the-art theoretical results at low and high baryon density. Comparing the results to ones obtained without the tidal-deformability constraint, we witness a dramatic reduction in the family of allowed EOSs. Based on our analysis, we conclude that the maximal radius of a 1.4-solar-mass neutron star is 13.6 km, and that the smallest allowed tidal deformability of a similar-mass star is Λ(1.4M)=120.

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  • Received 27 November 2017
  • Revised 6 February 2018

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.172703

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

Published by the American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Nuclear PhysicsParticles & FieldsGravitation, Cosmology & Astrophysics

Synopsis

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Gravitational Waves Shed Light on Dense Nuclear Matter

Published 25 April 2018

Analyses of the gravitational waves from the neutron star merger observed by LIGO and Virgo improve models describing the dense nuclear matter inside a neutron star.

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Authors & Affiliations

Eemeli Annala1, Tyler Gorda1, Aleksi Kurkela2, and Aleksi Vuorinen1

  • 1Department of Physics and Helsinki Institute of Physics, P.O. Box 64, FI-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland
  • 2Theoretical Physics Department, CERN, Geneva CH-1211, Switzerland and Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Stavanger, 4036 Stavanger, Norway

See Also

Neutron Skins and Neutron Stars in the Multimessenger Era

F. J. Fattoyev, J. Piekarewicz, and C. J. Horowitz
Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 172702 (2018)

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Vol. 120, Iss. 17 — 27 April 2018

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