Coalescing binary neutron stars (NS) are expected to be an important source of gravitational waves detectable by laser interferometers. We discuss recent theoretical work on the hydrodynamics of NS binary mergers and possible methods for determining the NS compactness ratio M/R and constraining the equation of state of dense nuclear matter using gravitational wave signals. One particularly simple and promising method is based on the properties of quasi-equilibrium binary NS sequences and does no require full hydrodynamic merger calculations.

Date Published: 26 February 2003
PDF: 11 pages
Proc. SPIE 4856, Gravitational-Wave Detection, (26 February 2003); doi: 10.1117/12.459021

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 4856:
Gravitational-Wave Detection
Peter Saulson; Adrian M. Cruise, Editor(s)