Probing the high-density behavior of symmetry energy with gravitational waves

Abstract

Gravitational wave (GW) astronomy opens up an entirely new window on the Universe to probe the equations of state (EOS) of neutron-rich matter. With the advent of next generation GW detectors, measuring the gravitational radiation from coalescing binary neutron star systems, mountains on rotating neutron stars, and stellar oscillation modes may become possible in the near future. Using a set of model EOSs satisfying the latest constraints from terrestrial nuclear experiments, state of the art nuclear many-body calculations of the pure neutron matter EOS, and astrophysical observations consistently, we study various GW signatures of the high-density behavior of the nuclear symmetry energy, which is considered among the most uncertain properties of dense neutron-rich nucleonic matter. In particular, we find the tidal polarizability of neutron stars, potentially measurable in binary systems just prior to merger, is more sensitive to the high density component of the nuclear symmetry energy than the symmetry energy at nuclear saturation density. We also find that the upper limit on the GW strain amplitude from elliptically deformed stars is very sensitive to the density dependence of the symmetry energy. This suggests that future developments in modeling of the neutron star crust, and direct gravitational wave signals from accreting binaries will provide a wealth of information on the EOS of neutron-rich matter. We also review the sensitivity of the $r$-mode instability window to the density dependence of the symmetry energy. Whereas models with larger values of the density slope of the symmetry energy at saturation seem to be disfavored by the current observational data, within a simple $r$-mode model, we point out that a subsequent softer behavior of the symmetry energy at high densities (hinted at by recent observational interpretations) could rule them in.

14 pages, 11 figures, 3 tables; submitted to EPJA Special Volume on Nuclear Symmetry Energy

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Cited by in corpus (20)

• The Nuclear Symmetry Energy
• Neutron star tidal deformability and equation of state constraints
• Gravitational waves from neutron star mergers and their relation to the nuclear equation of state
• Towards Understanding Astrophysical Effects of Nuclear Symmetry Energy
• Combined Constraints on the Equation of State of Dense Neutron-Rich Matter from Terrestrial Experiments and Observations of Neutron Stars
• Extracting Nuclear Symmetry Energies at High Densities from Observations of Neutron Stars and Gravitational Waves
• Interpreting Binary Neutron Star Mergers: Describing the Binary Neutron Star Dynamics, Modelling Gravitational Waveforms, and Analyzing Detections
• How tightly is nuclear symmetry energy constrained by unitary Fermi gas?
• Insights on Skyrme parameters from GW170817
• GW170817 implications on the frequency and damping time of f-mode oscillations of neutron stars
• Large Sound Speed in Dense Matter and the Deformability of Neutron Stars
• Imposing multi-physics constraints at different densities on the Neutron Star Equation of State
• Impact of the nuclear symmetry energy on the post-merger phase of a binary neutron star coalescence
• Cross-checking the symmetry energy at high densities
• Normal or abnormal isospin-fractionation as a qualitative probe of nuclear symmetry energy at supradensities
• Effects of energy conservation on equilibrium properties of hot asymmetric nuclear matter
• Effect of Delta potential on the pion-/pion+ ratio in heavy-ion collisions at intermediate energies
• Determination of the density region of the symmetry energy probed by the ${\pi }^{-}/{\pi }^{+}$ ratio
• The key factor to determine the relation between radius and tidal deformability of neutron stars: slope of symmetry energy
• Origins and Impacts of High-Density Symmetry Energy