Neutrinos in colliding neutron stars and black holes

TL;DR

This paper reviews the role of neutrinos in colliding neutron stars and black holes, highlighting their influence on observable signals and nucleosynthesis, with implications for nuclear astrophysics.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of how neutrinos affect the physics and observable phenomena of colliding compact objects, emphasizing their impact on nucleosynthesis.

Findings

Neutrinos significantly influence observable signals from collisions.

Neutrinos affect the outcome of nucleosynthesis in ejected matter.

Colliding neutron stars are crucial for understanding heavy element formation.

Abstract

In this chapter, we provide an overview of the physics of colliding black holes and neutron stars and of the impact of neutrinos on these systems. Observations of colliding neutron stars play an important role in nuclear astrophysics today. They allow us to study the properties of cold nuclear matter and the origin of many heavy elements (gold, platinum, uranium). We show that neutrinos significantly impact the observable signals powered by these events as well as the outcome of nucleosynthesis in the matter that they eject into the surrounding intergalactic medium.