Speaker
Luciano Rezzolla
Description
I will argue that if black holes represent one the most
fascinating implications of
Einstein's theory of gravity, neutron stars in binary system
are arguably its richest
laboratory, where gravity blends with astrophysics and
particle physics. I will
discuss the rapid recent progress made in modelling these
systems and show how the
inspiral and merger of a binary system of neutron stars is
more than a strong source
of gravitational waves. Indeed, while the gravitational
signal can provide tight
constraints on the equation of state for matter at nuclear
densities, the formation
of a black-hole--torus system can explain much of the
phenomenology of short
gamma-ray bursts, while the the ejection of matter during
the merger can shed light
on the chemical enrichment of the universe.
