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Special Seminar

Special Seminar

323 Whitmore Lab

2024-07-25

Leonardo Chiesa (U Trento) will give a special seminar talk entitled: Detailed neutrino-matter interaction rates in binary neutron star mergers

GW170817 marked the first outstanding detection of a gravitational-wave signal from the coalescence of a binary neutron star (BNS) system. The successful follow-up campaign for electromagnetic counterparts has confirmed the remarkable scientific potential of BNS mergers as multi-messenger astrophysical sources. To fully harness this potential, reliable theoretical modeling is essential to avoid systematic errors when interpreting observations. For instance, the interplay between neutrinos and nuclear matter can generate distinct fingerprints on the coalescence, such as affecting the fate of the post-merger remnant or the final nucleosynthesis outcome in the ejecta. To properly model the impact of neutrinos in numerical BNS simulations, one should provide neutrino-matter interaction rates that are as accurate as possible. However, current implementations often rely on oversimplifications or omit potentially relevant neutrino-matter reactions.

To address this need, I will present a novel numerical library designed to evaluate detailed neutrino-matter interaction rates in the context of BNS mergers. The library incorporates the impact of various physical effects on the rates, which are typically not considered in standard implementations. As an application example, I will exploit the library to predict typical neutrino rates for thermodynamics conditions taken from the post-merger phase of BNS merger simulations with moment-truncated (M1) neutrino transport. Such a study can help to identify the minimum set of relevant reactions and the corresponding accuracy needed to precisely predict the impact of neutrinos on the system.

TimeSpeakerTitle
11:30Leonardo ChiesaDetailed neutrino-matter interaction rates in binary neutron star mergers
About our wordmark
Monica The IGC wordmark was created by Monica Rincon Ramirez, while she was a graduate student at the Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos (IGC). Monica enjoys drawing new connections between fundamental theory and observations. Her graduate work includes specialized topics in general relativity, loop quantum gravity, and quantum fields in cosmological backgrounds. In particular, her thesis work focused on finding effective quantum corrections to gravitational phenomena from spinfoams, and applications to cosmology. She received her PhD in 2024.

The wordmark symbolizes the scope and variety of research at the IGC. The base of the image represents quantum gravity, evoking the quantum geometrical picture from spinfoams and loop quantum gravity. These are among the approaches to fundamental questions studied at the Center for Fundamental Theory. The middle of the image represents the Center for Theoretical and Observational Cosmology by galaxies embedded in a smooth surface, characteristic of spacetime in general relativity and the much larger physical scales studied in cosmology. Finally, at the top, the surface curves to an extreme, representing a supermassive black hole accompanied by an energetic jet. These elements depict an active galactic nucleus, inspired by Centaurus A. Just to the right, a pair of black holes approaches merger. This top portion of the wordmark represents the Center for Multimessenger Astrophysics, which specializes in the study of high-energy phenomena in the universe.