Supranuclear Equation Of State Research Articles

Constraints on the neutron star equation of state from AT2017gfo using radiative transfer simulations

ABSTRACT The detection of the binary neutron star merger GW170817 together with the observation of electromagnetic counterparts across the entire spectrum inaugurated a new era of multimessenger astronomy. In this study, we incorporate wavelength-dependent opacities and emissivities calculated from atomic-structure data enabling us to model both the measured light curves and spectra of the electromagnetic transient AT2017gfo. Best fits of the observational data are obtained by Gaussian Process Regression, which allows us to present posterior samples for the kilonova and source properties connected to GW170817. Incorporating constraints obtained from the gravitational wave signal measured by the LIGO-Virgo Scientific Collaboration, we present a $90{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ upper bound on the mass ratio q ≲ 1.38 and a lower bound on the tidal deformability of $\tilde{\Lambda } \gtrsim 197$, which rules out sufficiently soft equations of state. Our analysis is a path-finder for more realistic kilonova models and shows how the combination of gravitational wave and electromagnetic measurements allow for stringent constraints on the source parameters and the supranuclear equation of state.

Breaking the EOS-gravity degeneracy with masses and pulsating frequencies of neutron stars

A thorough understanding of many astrophysical phenomena associated with compact objects requires reliable knowledge about both the equation of state (EOS) of super-dense nuclear matter and the theory of strong-field gravity simultaneously because of the EOS-gravity degeneracy. Currently, variations of the neutron star (NS) mass–radius correlation from using alternative gravity theories are much larger than those from changing the NS matter EOS within known constraints. At least two independent observables are required to break the EOS-gravity degeneracy. Using model EOSs for hybrid stars and a Yukawa-type non-Newtonian gravity, we investigate both the mass–radius correlation and pulsating frequencies of NSs. While the maximum mass of NSs increases, the frequencies of the f, p1, p2, and wI pulsating modes are found to decrease with the increasing strength of the Yukawa-type non-Newtonian gravity, providing a useful reference for future determination simultaneously of both the strong-field gravity and the supranuclear EOS by combining data of x-ray and gravitational wave emissions of NSs.