Neutron Star Binary Mergers in the Era of Gravitational Wave Astronomy
Ζωντανή ροή πριν από 10 ώρες
Host: Edo Berger
Speaker: Brian Metzger
The
discovery of coalescing binary black holes by Advanced LIGO heralds the
birth of a new field of research: gravitational wave (GW) astronomy.
Coalescing neutron star (NS) binaries are among the new GW sources
expected over the next few years. Maximizing the knowledge gained from
this discovery will require identifying a coincident electromagnetic
counterpart. One promising counterpart is an optical/IR flare, powered
by the radioactive decay of neutron-rich elements synthesized in the
merger ejecta (a so-called `kilonova'). Beyond providing a beacon to the
GW chirp, kilonovae probe one of the dominant astrophysics sites for
creating the heaviest elements in the Universe via rapid neutron capture
(r-process) nucleosynthesis. I will describe how the lifetime of the
hypermassive NS created during a NS-NS merger impacts the light curves
and color of kilonovae, and how this affects the ongoing strategy of
LIGO electromagnetic follow-up. A small fraction of short gamma-ray
bursts are accompanied by long-lived X-ray emission, which may suggest
that some mergers result in the formation of long-lived - or even
indefinitely stable - NS remnants. If this association is confirmed,
this would place stringent constraints on the equation of state of
nuclear density matter.
Speaker: Brian Metzger
The
discovery of coalescing binary black holes by Advanced LIGO heralds the
birth of a new field of research: gravitational wave (GW) astronomy.
Coalescing neutron star (NS) binaries are among the new GW sources
expected over the next few years. Maximizing the knowledge gained from
this discovery will require identifying a coincident electromagnetic
counterpart. One promising counterpart is an optical/IR flare, powered
by the radioactive decay of neutron-rich elements synthesized in the
merger ejecta (a so-called `kilonova'). Beyond providing a beacon to the
GW chirp, kilonovae probe one of the dominant astrophysics sites for
creating the heaviest elements in the Universe via rapid neutron capture
(r-process) nucleosynthesis. I will describe how the lifetime of the
hypermassive NS created during a NS-NS merger impacts the light curves
and color of kilonovae, and how this affects the ongoing strategy of
LIGO electromagnetic follow-up. A small fraction of short gamma-ray
bursts are accompanied by long-lived X-ray emission, which may suggest
that some mergers result in the formation of long-lived - or even
indefinitely stable - NS remnants. If this association is confirmed,
this would place stringent constraints on the equation of state of
nuclear density matter.
Κατηγορία
Άδεια
- Τυπική άδεια YouTube
ANAΡΤΗΣΗ ΑΠΟ ΤΟ YOUTUBE 17/3/2017
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