Uncertainty Quantification for the Relativistic Inverse Stellar Structure Problem

TL;DR

This paper investigates how observational errors in mass and radius measurements affect the accuracy of determining the stellar matter's equation of state, optimizing the number of parameters for best results.

Contribution

It introduces a method to quantify uncertainty in the relativistic inverse stellar structure problem considering observational noise.

Findings

Accuracy depends on observational error size

Optimal number of parameters identified

Method improves equation of state inference

Abstract

The relativistic inverse stellar structure problem determines the equation of state of the stellar matter given a knowledge of suitable macroscopic observable properties (e.g. their masses and radii) of the stars composed of that material. This study determines how accurately this equation of state can be determined using noisy mass and radius observations. The relationship between the size of the observational errors and the accuracy of the inferred equation of state is evaluated, and the optimal number of adjustable equation of state parameters needed to achieve the highest accuracy is determined.