Probing the Dense Matter Equation of State with Gravitational-wave Detections of Neutron Stars
Gravitational-wave observatories have established a new field of transient astronomy with many connections to nuclear astrophysics. Compact binary mergers reveal the remnants of stellar evolution and supernovae in merging binary systems, they constrain event rates and astrophysical environments for heavy-element nucleosynthesis, and they are illuminating the dense matter dynamics inside the cores of merging neutron stars. In this talk, we will focus on the imprint of dense matter on gravitational waves, the implications of existing observations for nuclear physics, and the science potential of proposed next-generation observatories. We will discuss “quasiuniversal relations” — almost equation-of-state independent relations between neutron star properties — in the context of the future gravitational wave detectors Cosmic Explorer and Einstein Telescope. We will show that, when analyzing anticipated events, using full equation of state distributions leads to significantly better precision on extracted parameters than quasiuniversal relations. We also show how nuclear physics theory implies a more stringent equation of state invariance than current astrophysical constraints.