On the Nature of GW190814 and Its Impact on the Understanding of Supranuclear MatterShow others and affiliations
2021 (English)In: Astrophysical Journal Letters, ISSN 2041-8205, E-ISSN 2041-8213, Vol. 908, no 1, article id L1Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
The observation of a compact object with a mass of 2.50-2.67M<sub on 2019 August 14, by the LIGO Scientific and Virgo collaborations (LVC) has the potential to improve our understanding of the supranuclear equation of state. While the gravitational-wave analysis of the LVC suggests that GW190814 likely was a binary black hole system, the secondary component could also have been the heaviest neutron star observed to date. We use our previously derived nuclear-physics-multimessenger astrophysics framework to address the nature of this object. Based on our findings, we determine GW190814 to be a binary black hole merger with a probability of >99.9%. Even if we weaken previously employed constraints on the maximum mass of neutron stars, the probability of a binary black hole origin is still similar to 81%. Furthermore, we study the impact that this observation has on our understanding of the nuclear equation of state by analyzing the allowed region in the mass-radius diagram of neutron stars for both a binary black hole or neutron star-black hole scenario. We find that the unlikely scenario in which the secondary object was a neutron star requires rather stiff equations of state with a maximum speed of sound c(x) >= root 0.6 times the speed of light, while the binary black hole scenario does not offer any new insight.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
American Astronomical Society , 2021. Vol. 908, no 1, article id L1
Keywords [en]
Compact objects, Neutron stars, Nuclear astrophysics, Nuclear physics, Neutron star cores, Stellar mergers, Gravitational waves
National Category
Physical Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-292059DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/abdaaeISI: 000615206700001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85101348501OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-292059DiVA, id: diva2:1540539
Note
QC 20210329
2021-03-292021-03-292022-12-20Bibliographically approved