Extracting equation of state parameters from black hole-neutron star mergers: Nonspinning black holes

The late inspiral, merger, and ringdown of a black hole-neutron star (BHNS) system can provide information about the neutron-star equation of state (EOS). Candidate EOSs can be approximated by a parametrized piecewise-polytropic EOS above nuclear density, matched to a fixed low-density EOS; and we r...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review. D, Particles, fields, gravitation, and cosmology Particles, fields, gravitation, and cosmology, 2012-02, Vol.85 (4), Article 044061
Main Authors: Lackey, Benjamin D., Kyutoku, Koutarou, Shibata, Masaru, Brady, Patrick R., Friedman, John L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accuracy
Acquisitions
Black holes (astronomy)
Constants
Density
Equations of state
Love number
Neutron stars
Simulation
Stars
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Summary:The late inspiral, merger, and ringdown of a black hole-neutron star (BHNS) system can provide information about the neutron-star equation of state (EOS). Candidate EOSs can be approximated by a parametrized piecewise-polytropic EOS above nuclear density, matched to a fixed low-density EOS; and we report results from a large set of BHNS inspiral simulations that systematically vary two parameters. To within the accuracy of the simulations, we find that, apart from the neutron-star mass, a single physical parameter [Lambda], describing its deformability, can be extracted from the late inspiral, merger, and ringdown waveform. This parameter is related to the radius, mass, and l = 2 Love number, k sub(2), of the neutron star by (ProQuest: Formulae and/or non-USASCII text omitted), and it is the same parameter that determines the departure from point-particle dynamics during the early inspiral. Observations of gravitational waves from BHNS inspiral thus restrict the EOS to a surface of constant [Lambda] in the parameter space, thickened by the measurement error. Using various configurations of a single Advanced LIGO detector, we find that [Lambda] super([1/5]) or equivalently R can be extracted to 10-50% accuracy from single events for mass ratios of Q = 2 and 3 at a distance of 100 Mpc, while with the proposed Einstein Telescope, EOS parameters can be extracted to accuracy an order of magnitude better.
ISSN:1550-7998
1550-2368
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevD.85.044061