Nuclear astrophysics explores the nuclear physics inputs necessary to model neutron stars (NS) and their mergers. The multimessenger era, marked by the first detection of binary neutron star (BNS) mergers, has revolutionized astrophysics by providing new insights into dense matter and heavy element production. Understanding the dense matter equation of state (EoS) is crucial, as it influences gravitational waveforms, merger outcomes, and kilonova emissions. However, modeling nuclear matter remains a major challenge due to the extreme densities, temperatures, and composition variations encountered in NS and their mergers. The complexity of finite-temperature EoS models limits their availability and consistency, yet their accurate representation is essential for interpreting multimessenger observations and advancing our knowledge of the cosmos.
In this course, we will examine nuclear models used to construct the EoS, from ab initio approaches to empirical parameterizations. We will discuss their applications to NS, their crusts, and their inner cores, where phase transitions to exotic states of matter may occur. Moreover, we will explore how finite-temperature effects modify nuclear matter properties in BNS and supernovae.
The "Nuclear Astrophysics" course will be held on Mondays at 08.15 in room 2.28.2.011, while seminars will occur on Mondays at 14.15 in room 2.28.0.034.
The current (preliminary) course plan is here:
- 13.04: Introduction to the strong nuclear force
- 20.04: Ab initio methods: Chiral effective field theory
- 27.04: Constructing EoS from ab into methods: Can we apply ab initio to neutron stars?
- 08.05: Agnostic methods for the neutron star equation of state
- 15.05: Semi-agnostic method in nuclear physics: metamodel (part 1)
- 22.05: Semi-agnostic method in nuclear physics: metamodel (part 2)
- 05.06: The Skyrme functional and applications
- 12.06: Workshop on programming with Python
- 19.06: Relativistic mean-field nuclear models and applications
- 26.06: The crust of neutron stars: modeling non-homogeneous nuclear matter: I
- 03.07: The crust of neutron stars: modeling non-homogeneous nuclear matter: II
- 10.07: Modeling nuclear matter at finite temperatures
- 17.07: Equation of state and Nucleosynthesis at binary neutron star mergers
Seminars:
The seminar sessions will begin with an overview of neutron stars and the necessity of nuclear physics for understanding these compact objects. The remaining sessions will focus on problem-solving exercises and discussions of recent research papers in the field.
- 20.04: Seminar - Neutron stars overview: role of nuclear physics
- Kursleiter*in: Dr. Guilherme Grams