Thesis

The equation of state for compact objects: exploring the effect of strong magnetic fields in the inner crust of neutron stars

• Call:

  PT-CERN Call 2021/1

• Academic Year:

  2021

• Domain:

  Astroparticle Physics

• Supervisor:

  Helena Pais

• Co-Supervisor:

  Francesca Gulminelli

• Institution:

  Universidade de Coimbra

• Host Institution:

  CFISUC - Centro de Fisica da Universidade de Coimbra

• Abstract:

  The first detection of gravitational waves from the merger of two neutron stars in 2017 by LIGO/Virgo set a new exciting multi-messenger era for the astronomy, nuclear, gravitational and astrophysics community. Magnetars, a class of neutron stars that have very strong magnetic fields, are still not very well understood. However, there are already indications that these strong magnetic fields do affect the external layers of these very dense astrophysical objects. This PhD project is dedicated to the construction of a unified equation of state for magnetised stellar matter, which is the essential ingredient to build the stars' mass-radius relation, consistent with recent theoretical, experimental and observational developments. Such equation(s) of state will be made available to the community through the CompOSE repository to be used in core-collapse supernovae and binary neutron star mergers simulations. Special attention will be given to the non-homogeneous equation of state at sub-saturation densities.