The high density equation of state: constraints from accelerators and astrophysics

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent progress in constraining the nuclear equation of state at high densities through astrophysical observations and accelerator experiments, highlighting the agreement with many-body theoretical predictions.

Contribution

It synthesizes constraints from astrophysics and experiments, demonstrating their consistency with ab initio many-body calculations for the nuclear EoS.

Findings

Heavy ion experiments support a soft EoS at moderate densities.

High mass neutron star observations favor a stiff EoS.

Constraints from astrophysics and experiments agree with many-body theory predictions.

Abstract

The nuclear equation of state (EoS) at high densities and/or extreme isospin is one of the longstanding problems of nuclear physics. In the last years substantial progress has been made to constrain the EoS both, from the astrophysical side and from accelerator based experiments. Heavy ion experiments support a soft EoS at moderate densities while the possible existence of high mass neutron star observations favors a stiff EoS. Ab initio calculations for the nuclear many-body problem make predictions for the density and isospin dependence of the EoS far away from the saturation point. Both, the constraints from astrophysics and accelerator based experiments are shown to be in agreement with the predictions from many-body theory.