Thermal Effects in Binary Neutron Star Mergers
N3AS-23-021
Thermal Effects in Binary Neutron Star Mergers
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Abstract
We study the impact of finite-temperature effects in numerical-relativity simulations of binary neutron star mergers with finite-temperature microphysical equations of state and neutrino transport in which we vary the effective nucleon masses in a controlled way. We find that, as the specific heat is increased, the merger remnants become colder and more compact due to the reduced thermal pressure support. Using a full Bayesian analysis, we demonstrate that this effect will be measurable in the postmerger gravitational wave signal with next-generation observatories at signal-to-noise ratios as low as 10, i.e., close to the detectability threshold of post-merger signals.
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