Constraining the equation of state in neutron-star cores via the long-ringdown signal.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 39900914.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-025-56500-x and PMC identifier 11790964.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Multimessenger signals from binary neutron star (BNS) mergers are promising tools to infer the properties of nuclear matter at densities inaccessible to laboratory experiments. Gravitational waves (GWs) from BNS merger remnants can constrain the neutron-star equation of state (EOS) complementing constraints from late inspiral, direct mass-radius measurements, and ab-initio calculations. We perform a series of general-relativistic simulations of BNS systems with EOSs constructed to comprehensively cover the high-density regime. We identify a tight correlation between the ratio of the energy and angular-momentum losses in the late-time portion of the post-merger signal, called the long ringdown, and the EOS at the highest pressures and densities in neutron-star cores. Applying this correlation to post-merger GW signals significantly reduces EOS uncertainty at densities several times the nuclear saturation density, where no direct constraints are currently available. Hence, the long ringdown can provide stringent constraints on material properties of neutron stars cores.