Astroparticle Seminar: Andreas Bauswein

(HITS Heidelberg)

Gravitational waves and heavy elements from neutron-star mergers

Recently, black-hole binary mergers were observed by Advanced LIGO. Colliding neutron stars are expected to be detected in the near future when the sensitivity of gravitational-wave instruments increases. The detection of neutron-star mergers promises fascinating insights beyond gravitational physics and astrophysics. For instance, the dynamics of merging is affected by the properties of very dense neutron-star matter. Therefore, details of the gravitational-wave signal will reveal properties of high-density matter, which are hardly accessible by laboratory experiments. Observing neutron-star mergers will thus complement our knowledge about fundamental constituents of matter and strong interactions. Moreover, the extreme conditions during a merger provide favorable conditions for creating heavy elements beyond the iron group such as gold, platinum and uranium. The astrophysical production sites of these elements are still unsettled. The nucleosynthetic processes during a merger are expected to power electromagnetic counterparts, which may be found by systematic sky surveys. These observations in combinations with the associated gravitational-wave signals will be essential for clarifying the origin of heavy elements.