| Description |
In this work we examine the applications of neutron stars and their unique structure toprovide limits on the range of possible equations of state which describe nuclear matter.We follow the history of developments in nuclear physics and discuss the current state ofknowledge of neutron stars, including why these objects are well suited to the study ofnuclear physics. We then move on to examine recent work to apply a chiral effective-fieldmodel for the nuclear equation of state to a calculation of the moment of inertia object Ain the binary pulsar system J0737-3039. The methods used in this approach appear usefulfor ruling out different classes of equations of state, as well as potentially putting limits ondifferent structural properties of neutron stars that are difficult to measure directly, such asthe radius. We also examine other recent developments in the study of neutron stars andnuclear physics, such as the application of gravitational wave astronomy to observe neutronstar mergers.ii |
