Abstract
Using a Bayesian approach, we combine measurements of neutron star macroscopic observables obtained by astrophysical and gravitational observations to derive joint constraints on the equation of state (EOS) of matter at supranuclear density. In our analysis, we use two sets of data: (i) the masses and tidal deformabilities measured in the binary neutron star event GW170817, detected by LIGO and Virgo, and (ii) the masses and stellar radii measured from observations of nuclear bursts in accreting low-mass x-ray binaries. Using a phenomenological parametrization of the equation of state, we compute the posterior probability distributions of the EOS parameters, using which we infer the posterior distribution for the radius and the mass of the two neutron stars of GW170817. The constraints we set on the radii are tighter than previous bounds.
- Received 13 February 2019
- Revised 24 July 2019
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.141101
© 2019 American Physical Society