Princeton University Gravity Initiative Seminar

Abstract: Neutron stars and black holes represent the inevitable endpoints of stellar evolution for high-mass stars. Despite the apparent fine-tuning of the physical conditions necessary to produce them, neutron stars are abundant in the Galaxy. On the other hand, ground-based gravitational-wave detectors have revealed a sizeable population of black holes distributed throughout the universe.  In this talk, I will discuss how understanding the dense-matter equation of state provides insight into the astrophysical processes that form compact objects, even when our only access to these processes is through forensic clues. As part of this, I will show how simultaneous modeling of both the dense-matter equation of state and the astrophysical distribution of compact objects is essential in the era of data-driven astrophysics.  Finally, I will speculate that we may be close to understanding the origin of “typical” neutron star and black hole masses, but that the details of extreme matter physics are likely encoded in the full spectrum of compact objects.