Phase transitions in neutron stars and their links to gravitational waves

Understand

The recent direct observation of gravitational wave event $GW170817$ and its $GRB170817A$ signal has opened up a new window to study neutron stars and heralds a new era of Astronomy referred to as the Multimessenger Astronomy.

• Both gravitational and electromagnetic waves from a single astrophysical source have been detected for the first time.
• This combined detection offers an unprecedented opportunity to place constraints on the neutron star matter equation of state.
• The existence of a possible hadron-quark phase transition in the central regions of neutron stars is associated with the appearance of g-modes, which are extremely important as they could signal the presence of a pure quark matter core in the centers of neutron stars.