In October, the Gravitational Wave Laboratories LIGO and VIRGO announced the first observation of gravitational waves from the merger of two neutron stars on August 17, 2017, in an event called GW170817. Immediate follow up observations with 70 observatories around the world revealed a short gamma-ray burst and a so called kilo-nova associated with the same event. A kilo-nova is the weeklong afterglow of a neutron star merger and is thought to be powered by the radioactive decay of rare isotopes produced and ejected during the merger.
This is a very significant discovery for nuclear astrophysics. It is the long sought "smoking gun" observation that directly indicates a possible site for the rapid neutron capture process (r-process) thought to be responsible for much of the heavy elements in nature. The observations indicate that neutron star mergers occur frequently enough and eject enough material to be major nucleosynthesis sites. It is now more important than ever to understand the underlying nuclear physics to connect merger models with the new observables, and to determine exactly which elements are produced in such events. In addition, the observations provide new information on the properties of neutron stars, which directly inform long standing questions in nuclear science about the nature of nuclear matter (its so called equation of state).
This live stream event brings together nuclear physicists, astronomers, and computational astrophysicists to discuss the impact of these observations on nuclear science and nuclear astrophysics. We are particularly interested in exploring the following questions:
This is a very significant discovery for nuclear astrophysics. It is the long sought "smoking gun" observation that directly indicates a possible site for the rapid neutron capture process (r-process) thought to be responsible for much of the heavy elements in nature. The observations indicate that neutron star mergers occur frequently enough and eject enough material to be major nucleosynthesis sites. It is now more important than ever to understand the underlying nuclear physics to connect merger models with the new observables, and to determine exactly which elements are produced in such events. In addition, the observations provide new information on the properties of neutron stars, which directly inform long standing questions in nuclear science about the nature of nuclear matter (its so called equation of state).
This live stream event brings together nuclear physicists, astronomers, and computational astrophysicists to discuss the impact of these observations on nuclear science and nuclear astrophysics. We are particularly interested in exploring the following questions:
- What is the role of nuclear science in interpreting the observations?
- What is the important nuclear physics that is needed?
- What are new research opportunities and new questions arising for nuclear science?
- What broader nuclear physics, computational modeling, and observational efforts are needed to address the question of the origin of the elements and the properties of nuclear matter, in light of expected future multi-messenger observations of neutron star mergers and future capabilities in nuclear science?
Organization
The livestream event was organized by JINA-CEE
Advisory Committee
Chris Fryer, Los Alamos National Laboratory
Alexandra Gade, Michigan State University
Brian Metzger, Columbia University
Sanjay Reddy, University of Washington, INT
Luke Roberts, Michigan State University
Hendrik Schatz, Michigan State University
Rebecca Surman, University of Notre Dame
Chris Fryer, Los Alamos National Laboratory
Alexandra Gade, Michigan State University
Brian Metzger, Columbia University
Sanjay Reddy, University of Washington, INT
Luke Roberts, Michigan State University
Hendrik Schatz, Michigan State University
Rebecca Surman, University of Notre Dame
Local Organizing Committee
Sara Ayoub
Alexandra Gade
Ben Loseth
Stephanie Lyons
Karen King
Luke Roberts
Hendrik Schatz (Chair)
Dawn Welch
Sara Ayoub
Alexandra Gade
Ben Loseth
Stephanie Lyons
Karen King
Luke Roberts
Hendrik Schatz (Chair)
Dawn Welch