General Relativistic Simulations of Binary Neutron Star Mergers - Abstract

2 junho 2015, 11:18 - Ana Maria Cidade Mourão

Speaker: Bruno Giacomazzo (University of Trento)

Date: Thursday, June 4, 2015 – 14:30

Place: Physics Dept. Meeting Room, 2^nd floor, IST

Contact:  vincenzo.vitagliano@ist.utl.pt

Abstract:
Binary neutron stars (BNSs) are one of the most promising sources for the first detections of gravitational waves (GWs) by ground-based detectors (such as, advanced LIGO and Virgo). They may also emit powerful electromagnetic (EM) signal and they are thought to be behind the central engine that powers short gamma-ray bursts (SGRBs). In this talk I will review the results of fully general relativistic simulations of binary neutron star mergers performed with the Whisky code. I will describe both their GW and EM emission and what we can learn from their detection. I will in particular describe how BNS mergers can be used to infer the equation of state of neutron star matter and how they can be related to SGRBs.