Tidal properties of neutron stars in scalar-tensor theories of gravity

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Creci, Gastón, Hinderer, Tanja, Steinhoff, Jan
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
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author Creci, Gastón
Hinderer, Tanja
Steinhoff, Jan
author_facet Creci, Gastón
Hinderer, Tanja
Steinhoff, Jan
contents A major science goal of gravitational-wave (GW) observations is to probe the nature of gravity and constrain modifications to General Relativity. An established class of modified gravity theories are scalar-tensor models, which introduce an extra scalar degree of freedom. This affects the internal structure of neutron stars (NSs), as well as their dynamics and GWs in binary systems, where distinct novel features can arise from the appearance of scalar condensates in parts of the parameter space. To improve the robustness of the analyses of such GW events requires advances in modeling internal-structure-dependent phenomena in scalar-tensor theories. We develop an effective description of potentially scalarized NSs on large scales, where information about the interior is encoded in characteristic Love numbers or equivalently tidal deformabilities. We demonstrate that three independent tidal deformabilities are needed to characterize the configurations: a scalar, tensor, and a novel 'mixed' parameter, and develop the general methodology to compute these quantities. We also present case studies for different NS equations of state and scalar properties and provide the mapping between the deformabilities in different frames often used for calculations. Our results have direct applications for future GW tests of gravity and studies of potential degeneracies with other uncertain physics such as the equation of state or presence of dark matter in NS binary systems.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2308_11323
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Tidal properties of neutron stars in scalar-tensor theories of gravity
Creci, Gastón
Hinderer, Tanja
Steinhoff, Jan
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
High Energy Physics - Theory
A major science goal of gravitational-wave (GW) observations is to probe the nature of gravity and constrain modifications to General Relativity. An established class of modified gravity theories are scalar-tensor models, which introduce an extra scalar degree of freedom. This affects the internal structure of neutron stars (NSs), as well as their dynamics and GWs in binary systems, where distinct novel features can arise from the appearance of scalar condensates in parts of the parameter space. To improve the robustness of the analyses of such GW events requires advances in modeling internal-structure-dependent phenomena in scalar-tensor theories. We develop an effective description of potentially scalarized NSs on large scales, where information about the interior is encoded in characteristic Love numbers or equivalently tidal deformabilities. We demonstrate that three independent tidal deformabilities are needed to characterize the configurations: a scalar, tensor, and a novel 'mixed' parameter, and develop the general methodology to compute these quantities. We also present case studies for different NS equations of state and scalar properties and provide the mapping between the deformabilities in different frames often used for calculations. Our results have direct applications for future GW tests of gravity and studies of potential degeneracies with other uncertain physics such as the equation of state or presence of dark matter in NS binary systems.
title Tidal properties of neutron stars in scalar-tensor theories of gravity
topic General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
High Energy Physics - Theory
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2308.11323