Core-collapse Supernovae, Binary Neutron Star Mergers and the Nuclear Equation of State at High Density
Prof. Grant Mathews
Department of Physics & Astronomy
University of Notre Dame
The properties of nuclear matter at extremely high densities and temperatures are still unknown. Nevertheless, there are two environments in Nature for which the densest forms of nuclear matter can be found; these are during the collapse of the core of a massive star to form a supernova or black hole, and during the merger of two neutron stars to form a black hole. This talk will highlight recent progress by our group on exploring the nuclear equation-of-state effects in these two environments. In particular, new insight into what determines the explodability of supernova progenitors and the possibility to probe the non-perturbative regime of quark matter in the emitted gravitational radiation are discussed.