Combining laboratory experiments and space observations to map the densest matter
In short: Researchers who combined data from terrestrial heavy-ion collisions with astrophysical observations of neutron stars found that laboratory experiments provide a vital missing piece for understanding dense matter. By merging these different types of data with nuclear theory, the team discovered that the pressure in dense matter is higher than previously thought, which suggests that neutron stars have larger radii.
This research is significant because the cores of neutron stars reach densities far beyond what can be replicated on Earth. By using Bayesian inference to link gold nuclei collisions with multi-messenger signals from nine different neutron stars, the study demonstrates how different scales of physics can complement each other. However, the study relies on the integration of various models and observational data types, which introduces complexities in interpreting the exact behavior of nuclear matter at intermediate densities.
Why it matters: Combining lab experiments with space data helps scientists map the properties of matter that exists only in the universe's densest environments.
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Sources
- Source: Research: Huth et al. (2022). Constraining neutron-star matter with microscopic and macroscopic collisions. Nature. · cc-by
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