Finite Temperature Effects on the G-Mode Oscillations Spectrum of Neutron Stars

Abstract

In recent years, the U.S. based Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) and its companion detector in Italy VIRGO have detected gravitational waves from neutron star merger events. This is a means to study the properties of matter at high density and temperature in neutron stars. In this thesis, we study a diagnostic of the composition of high-density matter in neutron stars, namely, the g-mode oscillation, which is excited by tidal forces during the merger and results in the emission of gravitational waves. Thus far, these modes have been studied at zero temperature. We implement an extension to finite temperatures by employing a parameterized model for hot and dense matter proposed by Raithel, Ozel, and Psaltis (Raithel et.al, ApJ 785, 12 (2019)) that approximates microscopic equations of state based on nuclear forces. We nd that at high temperatures (above 30 MeV), g-mode oscillations are likely to be strongly suppressed for all but the most massive of neutron stars, for example, that which might be a metastable remnant of the merger. A third-generation gravitational wave detector should be capable of detecting the g-mode oscillation in a massive remnant and provide valuable information on the composition of neutron star interiors.