| Description |
In this work we examine the applications of neutron stars and their unique structure to provide 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 of knowledge of neutron stars, including why these objects are well suited to the study of nuclear physics. We then move on to examine recent work to apply a chiral effective-field model for the nuclear equation of state to a calculation of the moment of inertia object A in the binary pulsar system J0737-3039. The methods used in this approach appear useful for ruling out different classes of equations of state, as well as potentially putting limits on different structural properties of neutron stars that are difficult to measure directly, such as the radius. We also examine other recent developments in the study of neutron stars and nuclear physics, such as the application of gravitational wave astronomy to observe neutron star mergers. |
