Probing Crust Meltdown in Inspiraling Binary Neutron Stars

Understand

Thanks to recent measurements of tidal deformability and radius, the nuclear equation of state and structure of neutron stars are now better understood.

• Here, we show that through resonant tidal excitations in a binary inspiral, the neutron crust generically undergoes elastic-to-plastic transition, which leads to crust heating and eventually meltdown.
• This process could induce $\sim \mathcal{O}(0.1)$ phase shift in the gravitational waveform.
• Detecting the timing and induced phase shift of this crust meltdown will shed light on the crust structure, such as the core-crust transition density, which previous measurements are insensitive to.