Thesis

Unified equation of state consistent with astrophysical, gravitational, high- and low- energy nuclear physics data and its applications

• Call:

  PT-CERN Call 2022/1

• Academic Year:

  2022

• Domain:

  Astroparticle Physics

• Supervisor:

  Ilidio Lopes

• Co-Supervisor:

  Violetta Sagun

• Institution:

  Universidade de Coimbra

• Host Institution:

  CFISUC - Centro de Fisica da Universidade de Coimbra

• Abstract:

  The compact astrophysical objects, i.e. neutron stars (NSs), hybrid (HSs) and quark stars (QSs), are the densest physical objects accessible by direct observations. Moreover, the physical processes inside objects like HSs and QSs, for which is expected that matter goes through a phase transition from nuclear matter to a quark-gluon plasma, are equally poorly understood. This limitation comes from the fact that Quantum Chromodynamics and its lattice formulation have very limited applicability at large baryonic densities which cannot allow for obtaining a reliable equation of state (EoS). By imposing multi-messenger constraints from gravitational wave physics and astrophysics, e.g. LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA Collaboration, NICER, SKA, etc., detection of QS or HS can become another scientific breakthrough and prove the existence of quark matter. The PhD project is focused on modeling the properties of HSs, probing the properties of phase transitions and the EoS of strongly interacting matter at high densities.