Gravitational waves unveil previously unseen properties of neutron stars | Science & Technology

“Neutron stars are the collapsed cores of stars and densest stable material objects in the universe, much denser and colder than conditions that particle colliders can even create,” said Yunes, who also is the founding director of the Illinois Center for Advanced Studies of the Universe. “The mere existence of neutron stars tells us that there are unseen properties related to astrophysics, gravitational physics and nuclear physics that play a critical role in the inner workings of our universe.”

However, many of these previously unseen properties became observable with the discovery of gravitational waves.

“The properties of neutron stars imprint onto the gravitational waves they emit. These waves then travel millions of light-years through space to detectors on Earth, like the advanced European Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory and the Virgo Collaboration,” Yunes said. “By detecting and analyzing the waves, we can infer the properties of neutron stars and learn about their internal composition and the physics at play in their extreme environments.”

As a gravitational physicist, Yunes was interested in determining how gravitational waves encode information about the tidal forces that distort the shape of neutron stars and affect their orbital motion. This information also could tell physicists more about the dynamic material properties of the stars, such as internal friction or viscosity, “which might give us insight into out-of-equilibrium physical processes that result in the net transfer…