Neutrino emission, Equation of State and the role of strong gravity

TL;DR

This paper explores how the matter equation of state influences neutrino emissions during neutron star mergers, highlighting implications for gravitational wave detection and heavy element synthesis.

Contribution

It provides insights into the impact of the equation of state on neutrino spectra and luminosities in neutron star mergers, integrating nuclear physics with numerical relativity.

Findings

Equation of state significantly affects neutrino energies and luminosities.

Neutrino spectral features can inform on the merger's physical conditions.

Implications for detecting neutrinos from neutron star mergers.

Abstract

Neutron-star mergers are interesting for several reasons: they are proposed as the progenitors of short gamma-ray bursts, they have been speculated to be a site for the synthesis of heavy elements, and they emit gravitational waves possibly detectable at terrestrial facilities. The understanding of the merger process, from the pre-merger stage to the final compact object-accreting system involves detailed knowledge of numerical relativity and nuclear physics. In particular, key ingredients for the evolution of the merger are neutrino physics and the matter equation of state. We present some aspects of neutrino emission from binary neutron star mergers showing the impact that the equation of state has on neutrinos and discuss some spectral quantities relevant to their detection such as energies and luminosities far from the source.