Scientists from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav) have described a way to determine the birth population of double neutron stars--some of the densest objects in the Universe formed in collapsing massive stars. The recently published study observed different life stages of these neutron star systems.
Scientists can observe the merging of double neutron star systems using gravitational waves--ripples in the fabric of space and time. By studying neutron star populations, scientists can learn more about how they formed and evolved. So far, there have been only two double neutron star systems detected by gravitational-wave detectors; however, many of them have been observed in radio astronomy. One of the double neutron stars observed in gravitational wave signals, called GW190425, is far more massive than the ones in typical Galactic populations observed in radio astronomy, with a combined mass of 3.4 times that of our Sun. This raises the question: why is there a lack of these massive double neutron stars in radio astronomy? To find an answer, OzGrav PhD student Shanika Galaudage, from Monash University, investigated how to combine radio and gravitational-wave observations. The birth, mid-life and death of double neutron stars Radio and gravitational-wave astronomy enables scientists to study double neutron stars at different stages of their evolution. Radio observations probe the lives of double neutron stars, while gravitational waves study their final moments of life. To achieve a better understanding of these systems, from formation to merger, scientists need to study the connection between radio and gravitational wave populations: their birth populations. Shanika and her team determined the birth mass distribution of double neutron stars using radio and gravitational-wave observations. “Both populations evolve from the birth populations of these systems, so if we look back in time when considering the radio and gravitational-wave populations we see today, we should be able to extract the birth distribution,” says Shanika Galaudage. The key is to understand the delay-time distribution of double neutron stars: the time between the formation and merger of these systems. The researchers hypothesised that heavier double neutron star systems may be fast-merging systems, meaning that they’re merging too fast to be visible in radio observations and could only be seen in gravitational-waves. GW190425 and the fast-merging channel The study found mild support for a fast-merging channel, indicating that heavy double neutron star systems may not need a fast-merging scenario to explain the lack of observations in radio populations. “We find that GW190425 is not an outlier when compared to the broader population of double neutron stars,” says study co-author Christian Adamcewicz, from Monash University. “So, these systems may be rare, but they‘re not necessarily indicative of a separate fast-merging population.” In future gravitational wave detections, researchers can expect to observe more double neutron star mergers. “If future detections reveal a stronger discrepancy between the radio and gravitational-wave populations, our model provides a natural explanation for why such massive double neutron stars are not common in radio populations,” adds co-author Dr Simon Stevenson, an OzGrav postdoctoral researcher at Swinburne University of Technology.
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There is a growing interest in introducing quantum physics at an early age in schools because of its applications in emerging technologies, such as quantum computers. To make it accessible to school students, our recently published study presents a novel way of exploring basic quantum mechanical phenomena, such as matter-wave interference, diffraction, and reflection. Our graphical approach, based on Feynman path integrals, offers insights into the quantum world in which observations represent quantum probability density. We combine tactile tools called phasor-wheels with real-life analogies and videos of single-quanta interference and employ elementary mathematics to teach these concepts. Our approach uses practical, hands-on tools for teaching, making it appealing to students from high school (years 9 and 10) and above. The engaging material encouraged active participation and students found it easy to understand these abstract scientific concepts. Written by By Rahul Choudhary – PhD student at UWA General relativity, Einstein’s theory of gravity, is best tested at its most extreme--close to the event horizon of a black hole. This regime is accessible through observations of shadows of supermassive black holes and gravitational waves--ripples in the fabric of our Universe from colliding stellar-mass black holes. For the first time, scientists from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav), the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) and the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, have outlined a consistent approach to exploring deviations from Einstein’s general theory of relativity in these two different observations. This research, published in Physical Review D, confirms that Einstein’s theory accurately describes current observations of black holes, from the smallest to the largest. One of the hallmark predictions from general relativity is the existence of black holes.The theory provides a specific description of a black hole’s effect on the fabric of space-time: a four-dimensional mesh which encodes how objects move through space and time. Known as the Kerr metric, this prediction can be related to the bending of light around a black hole, or the orbital motion of binary black holes. In this study, the deviations from the Kerr metric were linked to features in these black hole observations. In 2019, the Event Horizon Telescope generated silhouette images of the black hole at the centre of the galaxy M87, with a mass several billion times that of our Sun. The angular size of the shadow is related to the mass of the black hole, its distance from Earth and possible deviations from general relativity’s prediction. These deviations can be calculated from the scientific data, including previous measurements of the black hole’s mass and distance. Meanwhile, since 2015 the LIGO and Virgo gravitational-wave observatories have been detecting gravitational waves from merging stellar mass black holes. By measuring the gravitational waves from the colliding black holes, scientists can explore the mysterious nature and metrics of the black holes. This study focussed on deviations from general relativity that appear as slight changes to the pitch and intensity of the gravitational waves, before the two black holes collide and merge. Combining the measurements of the shadow of the supermassive black hole in M87 and gravitational waves from a couple of binary black hole detections, called GW170608 and GW190924, the researchers found no evidence for deviations from general relativity. Co-author of the study and OzGrav research assistant Ethan Payne (Australian National University) explained that the two measurements provided similar, consistent constraints. “Different sizes of black holes may help break the complementary behaviour seen here between EHT and LIGO/Virgo observations,” said Payne. “This study lays the groundwork for future measurements of deviations from the Kerr metric.” Written by OzGrav research assistant Ethan Payne, the Australian National University. |
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