Physics Colloquium: Prof. Carolyn Raithel

Title: Understanding Neutron Stars with Gravitational Waves Abstract

Abstract: Neutron stars are extreme objects. They contain matter at the highest densities found anywhere in the Universe, under conditions that cannot be recreated in laboratories on Earth. During the merger of two neutron stars, the system emits gravitational waves (GWs) that encode information about the stars’ ultra-dense interiors. In this talk, I will discuss what we have learned about neutron stars from the first GW observations of their mergers, and what we hope to learn from current and upcoming experiments over the next decade. Along the way, I will present results from numerical simulations of neutron star mergers to highlight some of the open questions and challenges that lie ahead.

 **Anyone from the campus community is welcome, but note that the talk will assume at least 1-2 years of physics classes as background.