The Nuclear Physics of Neutron Stars

Understand

Neutron stars -- compact objects with masses similar to that of our Sun but radii comparable to the size of a city -- contain the densest form of matter in the universe that can be probed in terrestrial laboratories as well as in earth- and space-based observatories.

• The historical detection of gravitational waves from a binary neutron star merger has opened the brand new era of multimessenger astronomy and has propelled neutron stars to the center of a variety of disciplines, such as astrophysics, general relativity, nuclear physics, and particle physics.
• The main input required to study the structure of neutron stars is the pressure support generated by its constituents against gravitational collapse.
• These include neutrons, protons, electrons, and perhaps even more exotic constituents.