Bayesian analysis of a relativistic hadronic model constrained by recent astrophysical observations

TL;DR

This paper employs Bayesian analysis to constrain the nuclear matter equation of state using recent astrophysical data, resulting in refined parameters consistent with neutron star observations and nuclear physics constraints.

Contribution

It introduces a Bayesian framework to constrain a relativistic hadronic model's parameters based on recent astrophysical measurements, improving understanding of neutron star properties.

Findings

Optimal ranges for bulk parameters like effective mass, incompressibility, and symmetry energy slope.

Predicted neutron star radius ranges consistent with observational data.

Agreement of model parametrizations with nuclear matter constraints and gravitational wave observations.

Abstract

We use Bayesian analysis in order to constrain the equation of state for nuclear matter from astrophysical data related to the recent measurements from the NICER mission, LIGO/Virgo collaboration, and probability distributions of mass and radius from other 12 sources, including thermonuclear busters, and quiescent low-mass X-ray binaries. For this purpose, we base our study on a relativistic hadronic mean field model including an $\omega-\rho$ interaction. Our results indicate optimal ranges for some bulk parameters at the saturation density, namely, effective mass, incompressibility, and symmetry energy slope ($L_0$). For instance, we find $L_0 = 50.79^{+15.16}_{-9.24}$ MeV (Case 1) and $L_0 = 75.06^{+8.43}_{-4.43}$ MeV (Case 2) in a $68\%$ confidence interval for the 2 cases analyzed (different input ranges for $L_0$ related to the PREX-II data). The respective parametrizations are in agreement with important nuclear matter constraints, as well as observational neutron star data, such as the dimensionless tidal deformability of the GW170817 event. From the mass-radius curves obtained from these best parametrizations, we also find the ranges of $11.97 \mbox{ km}\leqslant R_{1.4}\leqslant 12.73 \mbox{ km}$ (Case 1) and $12.34 \mbox{ km}\leqslant R_{1.4}\leqslant 13.06 \mbox{ km}$ (Case 2) for the radius of the $1.4M_\odot$ neutron star.