New insights into neutron star matter

Combining heavy-ion experiments, astrophysical observations, and nuclear theory

2022/06/10 by

An international research team has for the first time combined data from heavy-ion experiments, gravitational wave measurements and other astronomical observations using advanced theoretical modelling to more precisely constrain the properties of nuclear matter as it can be found in the interior of neutron stars. The results were published in the journal “Nature”.

Artist’s rendering showing the simulation of two merging neutron stars (left) and the emerging particle tracks that can be seen in a heavy-ion collision (right) that creates matter under similar conditions in the laboratory.

The complete press release can be found here.

The publication “Constraining Neutron-Star Matter with Microscopic and Macroscopic Collisions” by S. Huth et al. can be found with the doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-04750-w.