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Title: Extracting nuclear symmetry energies at high densities from observations of neutron stars and gravitational waves

Journal Article · · European Physical Journal. A
 [1];  [2]
  1. Shandong Univ., Weihai (China); Texas A & M Univ., Commerce, TX (United States)
  2. Texas A & M Univ., Commerce, TX (United States)

By numerically inverting the Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkov (TOV) equation using an explicitly isospin-dependent parametric Equation of State (EOS) of dense neutron-rich nucleonic matter, a restricted EOS parameter space is established using observational constraints on the radius, maximum mass, tidal deformability and causality condition of neutron stars (NSs). The constraining band obtained for the pressure as a function of energy (baryon) density is in good agreement with that extracted recently by the LIGO+Virgo Collaborations from their improved analyses of the NS tidal deformability in GW170817. Rather robust upper and lower boundaries on nuclear symmetry energies are extracted from the observational constraints up to about twice the saturation density ρ0 of nuclear matter. More quantitatively, the symmetry energy at 2ρ0 is constrained to Esym(2ρ0)=46.9±10.1 Esym(2ρ0) = 46.9 ± 10.1 MeV excluding many existing theoretical predictions scattered between Esym(2ρ0)=15 and 100 MeV. Moreover, by studying variations of the causality surface where the speed of sound equals that of light at central densities of the most massive neutron stars within the restricted EOS parameter space, the absolutely maximum mass of neutron stars is found to be 2.40 M approximately independent of the EOSs used. Finally, this limiting mass is consistent with findings of several recent analyses and numerical general relativity simulations about the maximum mass of the possible super-massive remanent produced in the immediate aftermath of GW170817. deformability.

Research Organization:
Texas A & M Univ., Commerce, TX (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Nuclear Physics (NP); National Natural Science Foundation (NNSFC)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0013702; SC0009971; 11320101004
OSTI ID:
1658236
Journal Information:
European Physical Journal. A, Vol. 55, Issue 3; ISSN 1434-6001
Publisher:
SpringerCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 75 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (10)

Equation of state of dense matter in the multimessenger era journal June 2019
Implications of the Mass $M={2.17}_{-0.10}^{+0.11}$ M of PSR J0740+6620 on the Equation of State of Super-dense Neutron-rich Nuclear Matter journal July 2019
Relativistic self-energy decomposition of nuclear symmetry energy and equation of state of neutron matter within QCD sum rules journal August 2019
Bayesian Inference of High-density Nuclear Symmetry Energy from Radii of Canonical Neutron Stars journal October 2019
Towards understanding astrophysical effects of nuclear symmetry energy journal July 2019
Role of the symmetry energy and the neutron-matter stiffness on the tidal deformability of a neutron star with unified equations of state journal September 2019
High-density nuclear symmetry energy extracted from astrophysical observations
  • Li, Bao-An; Krastev, P. G.; Wen, De-Hua
  • XIAMEN-CUSTIPEN WORKSHOP ON THE EQUATION OF STATE OF DENSE NEUTRON-RICH MATTER IN THE ERA OF GRAVITATIONAL WAVE ASTRONOMY, AIP Conference Proceedings https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5117808
conference January 2019
Relativistic self-energy decomposition of nuclear symmetry energy and equation of state of neutron matter within QCD sum rules text January 2019
Effects of the equation of state on the bulk properties of maximally-rotating neutron stars text January 2019
Role of the symmetry energy and the neutron-matter stiffness on the tidal deformability of a neutron star with unified equations of state text January 2019