Multimessenger observations and the science enabled: Continuous waves and their progenitors, equation of state of dense matter

TL;DR

This paper reviews the potential of continuous gravitational wave detection from neutron stars, discussing astrophysical uncertainties, detection challenges, and future prospects with advanced detectors to probe dense matter physics.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of the current understanding, challenges, and future directions in detecting continuous gravitational waves from neutron stars.

Findings

Astrophysical uncertainties affect CGW emission models.

Third-generation detectors could improve detection prospects.

Resolving key issues may enable CGW detection and dense matter insights.

Abstract

Rotating and oscillating neutron stars can give rise to long-lived Continuous Gravitational Waves (CGWs). Despite many years of searching, the detection of such a CGW signal remains elusive. In this article we describe the main astrophysical uncertainties regarding such emission, and their relation to the behaviour of matter at extremely high density. We describe the main challenges in searching for CGWs, and the prospects of detecting them using third-generation gravitational wave detectors. We end by describing some pressing issues in the field, whose resolution would help turn the detection and exploitation of CGWs into reality.