No Arabic abstract
Gravitational radiation is a fundamental prediction of General Relativity. Elliptically deformed pulsars are among the possible sources emitting gravitational waves (GWs) with a strain-amplitude dependent upon the stars quadrupole moment, rotational frequency, and distance from the detector. We show that the gravitational wave strain amplitude $h_0$ depends strongly on the equation of state of neutron-rich stellar matter. Applying an equation of state with symmetry energy constrained by recent nuclear laboratory data, we set an upper limit on the strain-amplitude of GWs produced by elliptically deformed pulsars. Depending on details of the EOS, for several millisecond pulsars at distances $0.18kpc$ to $0.35kpc$ from Earth, the {it maximal} $h_0$ is found to be in the range of $sim[0.4-1.5]times 10^{-24}$. This prediction serves as the first {it direct} nuclear constraint on the gravitational radiation. Its implications are discussed.
Pulsars are among the most mysterious astrophysical objects in the Universe and are believed to be rotating neutron stars formed in supernova explosions. They are unique testing grounds of dense matter theories and gravitational physics and also provide links among nuclear physics, particle physics and General Relativity. Neutron stars may exhibit some of the most extreme and exotic characteristics that could not be found elsewhere in the Universe. Their properties are largely determined by the equation of state (EOS) of neutron-rich matter, which is the chief ingredient in calculating neutron star structure and properties of related phenomena, such as gravitational wave emission from deformed pulsars. Presently, the EOS of neutron-rich matter is still very uncertain mainly due to the poorly known density dependence of the nuclear symmetry energy especially at supra-saturation densities. Nevertheless, significant progress has been made recently in constraining the density dependence of the nuclear symmetry energy mostly at sub-saturation densities using terrestrial nuclear reactions. While there are still some uncertainties especially at supra-saturation densities, these constraints could provide useful information on the limits of the global properties of pulsars and the gravitational waves to be expected from them. Here we review our recent work on constraining properties of pulsars and gravitational radiation with data from terrestrial nuclear laboratories.
The recent direct detection of gravitational waves (GWs) from binary black hole mergers (2016, Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, no. 6, 061102; no. 24, 241103) opens up an entirely new non-electromagnetic window into the Universe making it possible to probe physics that has been hidden or dark to electromagnetic observations. In addition to cataclysmic events involving black holes, GWs can be triggered by physical processes and systems involving neutron stars. Properties of neutron stars are largely determined by the equation of state (EOS) of neutron-rich matter, which is the major ingredient in calculating the stellar structure and properties of related phenomena, such as gravitational wave emission from elliptically deformed pulsars and neutron star binaries. Although the EOS of neutron-rich matter is still rather uncertain mainly due to the poorly known density dependence of nuclear symmetry energy at high densities, significant progress has been made recently in constraining the symmetry energy using data from terrestrial nuclear laboratories. These constraints could provide useful information on the limits of GWs expected from neutron stars. Here after briefly reviewing our previous work on constraining gravitational radiation from elliptically deformed pulsars with terrestrial nuclear laboratory data in light of the recent gravitational wave detection, we estimate the maximum gravitational wave strain amplitude, using an optimistic value for the breaking strain of the neutron star crust, for 15 pulsars at distances 0.16 kpc to 0.91 kpc from Earth, and find it to be in the range of $sim[0.2-31.1]times 10^{-24}$, depending on the details of the EOS used to compute the neutron star properties. Implications are discussed.
Nuclear-powered X-ray millisecond pulsars are the third type of millisecond pulsars, which are powered by thermonuclear fusion processes. The corresponding brightness oscillations, known as burst oscillations, are observed during some thermonuclear X-ray bursts, when the burning and cooling accreted matter gives rise to an azimuthally asymmetric brightness pattern on the surface of the spinning neutron star. Apart from providing neutron star spin rates, this X-ray timing feature can be a useful tool to probe the fundamental physics of neutron star interior and surface. This chapter presents an overview of the relatively new field of nuclear-powered X-ray millisecond pulsars.
In this work, analyzing the propagation of electromagnetic waves in the field of gravitational waves, we show the presence and significance of the so called surfing effect for pulsar timing measurements. It is shown that, due to the transverse nature of gravitational waves, the surfing effect leads to enormous pulsar timing residuals if the speed of gravitational waves is smaller than speed of light. This fact allows to place significant constraints on parameter $epsilon$, which characterizes the relative deviation of the speed of gravitational waves from the speed of light. We show that the existing constraints from pulsar timing measurements already place stringent limits on $epsilon$ and consequently on the mass of graviton $m_g$. These limits on $m_g$ are three orders of magnitude stronger than the current constraints from Solar System tests. The current constraints also allow to rule out massive gravitons as possible candidates for cold dark matter in galactic halo. In the near future, the gravitational wave background from extragalactic super massive black hole binaries, along with the expected sub-microsecond pulsar timing accuracy, will allow to achieve constrains of $epsilonlesssim 0.4%$ and possibly stronger.
We present an analysis based on the deformed Quasi Particle Random Phase Approximation, on top of a deformed Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov description of the ground state, aimed at studying the isoscalar monopole and quadrupole response in a deformed nucleus. This analysis is motivated by the need of understanding the coupling between the two modes and how it might affect the extraction of the nuclear incompressibility from the monopole distribution. After discussing this motivation, we present the main ingredients of our theoretical framework, and we show some results obtained with the SLy4 and SkM$^{*}$ interactions for the nucleus ${}^{24}$Mg.