Snowmass 2021 Cosmic Frontier White Paper: The Dense Matter Equation of State and QCD Phase Transitions

Our limited understanding of the physical properties of matter at ultra-high density, high proton/neutron number asymmetry, and low temperature is presently one of the major outstanding problems in physics. As matter in this extreme state is known to only exist stably in the cores of neutron stars (...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:arXiv.org 2022-09
Main Authors: Bogdanov, Slavko, Fonseca, Emmanuel, Kashyap, Rahul, Kurkela, Aleksi, Lattimer, James M, Read, Jocelyn S, Sathyaprakash, Bangalore S, Cromartie, H Thankful, Dietrich, Tim, Dhani, Arnab, Dolch, Timothy, Gorda, Tyler, Guillot, Sebastien, Ho, Wynn C G, Huxford, Rachael, Lamb, Frederick K, Landry, Philippe, Meyers, Bradley W, M Coleman Miller, Nättilä, Joonas, Paatelainen, Risto, Prescod-Weinstein, Chanda, Saga Säppi, Stairs, Ingrid H, Stergioulas, Nikolaos, Tews, Ingo, Vuorinen, Aleksi, Wadiasingh, Zorawar, Watts, Anna L
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Angular resolution
Astrophysics
Black holes
Dark matter
Equations of state
Gravitational waves
Laboratories
Low temperature
Neutron stars
Nuclear fusion
Nuclear physics
Phase transitions
Physical properties
Physics
Quantum chromodynamics
Radio astronomy
Radio telescopes
Stellar evolution
Superconductivity
Superfluidity
Telescopes
X ray telescopes
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Summary:Our limited understanding of the physical properties of matter at ultra-high density, high proton/neutron number asymmetry, and low temperature is presently one of the major outstanding problems in physics. As matter in this extreme state is known to only exist stably in the cores of neutron stars (NSs), complementary measurements from electromagnetic and gravitational wave astrophysical observations of NSs, combined with terrestrial laboratory constraints and further theoretical investigations, hold the promise to provide important insight into the properties of matter in a region of the quantum chromodynamics phase space that is otherwise inaccessible. This multidisciplinary endeavor imposes the following requirements for facilities and resources in the upcoming decade and beyond: * A next generation of gravitational wave detectors to uncover more double NS and neutron star-black hole mergers; * Sensitive radio telescopes to find the most massive and fastest spinning NSs; * Large-area, high-time-resolution and/or high angular resolution X-ray telescopes to constrain the NS mass-radius relation; * Suitable laboratory facilities for nuclear physics experiments to constrain the dense matter equation of state; * Funding resources for theoretical studies of matter in this regime; * The availability of modern large-scale high performance computing infrastructure. The same facilities and resources would also enable significant advances in other high-profile fields of inquiry in modern physics such as the nature of dark matter, alternative theories of gravity, nucleon superfluidity and superconductivity, as well as an array of astrophysics, including but not limited to stellar evolution, nucleosynthesis, and primordial black holes.
ISSN:2331-8422