Constraining the High-Density Neutron-Star Equation of State from Ab Initio Theory
A strategy for bounding the equation of state of matter above nuclear saturation density: anchor it to ab initio (chiral effective field theory) calculations of nuclear and neutron matter at densities where they are trustworthy, then extend to higher densities with polytropes and speed-of-sound parametrizations bounded by causality and observed maximum neutron-star masses. Students learn how microscopic theory and physical constraints together narrow the high-density equation of state and yield neutron-star mass-radius and cooling predictions.
General features of the stellar matter equation of state from microscopic theory, new maximum-mass
The profile of a neutron star probes a very large range of densities, from the density of iron up to several times the density of saturated nuclear matter, and thus no theory of hadrons can be consid…