Model-Selection of Proposed Equations of State for Neutron Stars Using Multi-Messenger Astronomy
Presentation Type
Poster
Faculty Advisor
Shaon Ghosh
Access Type
Open Access
Start Date
26-4-2024 9:45 AM
End Date
26-4-2024 10:44 AM
Description
As one of the most extreme objects in the universe, neutron stars (NS) are fascinating objects to study. Their immense gravity is stalled from initiating a total collapse into a black hole by the strong nuclear interaction between neutrons in the stellar core. The state of their matter, often referred to as the equation of state (EoS), is of interest to astronomers because of the innate pressure it withstands due to the force of the star's own gravity. As a result of the scale of pressure involved, terrestrial laboratories are unable to mimic this environment. This lack of experimental data, along with a lack of theoretical understanding of the strong nuclear force, the strong nuclear force, leaves us ignorant of the qualities of this matter. Currently, there are two sources of data available to do this. Gravitational waves released by binary NS coalescences millions of light years away can be detected here on Earth and provide us with the NS mass ratio - tidal deformability relationship, a form of EoS. Electromagnetic observations of NSs from instruments such as the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) provide us with a radius - mass relationship, another form of EoS. We propose the creation of a bayesian inferencing tool under an existing coding package, called GWXtreme, that will allow us to combine electromagnetic information from NICER observations with gravitational wave information from LIGO's detections to construct the best informed Bayes factors on EoSs of NS matter.
Model-Selection of Proposed Equations of State for Neutron Stars Using Multi-Messenger Astronomy
As one of the most extreme objects in the universe, neutron stars (NS) are fascinating objects to study. Their immense gravity is stalled from initiating a total collapse into a black hole by the strong nuclear interaction between neutrons in the stellar core. The state of their matter, often referred to as the equation of state (EoS), is of interest to astronomers because of the innate pressure it withstands due to the force of the star's own gravity. As a result of the scale of pressure involved, terrestrial laboratories are unable to mimic this environment. This lack of experimental data, along with a lack of theoretical understanding of the strong nuclear force, the strong nuclear force, leaves us ignorant of the qualities of this matter. Currently, there are two sources of data available to do this. Gravitational waves released by binary NS coalescences millions of light years away can be detected here on Earth and provide us with the NS mass ratio - tidal deformability relationship, a form of EoS. Electromagnetic observations of NSs from instruments such as the Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) provide us with a radius - mass relationship, another form of EoS. We propose the creation of a bayesian inferencing tool under an existing coding package, called GWXtreme, that will allow us to combine electromagnetic information from NICER observations with gravitational wave information from LIGO's detections to construct the best informed Bayes factors on EoSs of NS matter.