Neutron-star mergers in scalar-tensor theories of gravity

ORAL

Abstract

Scalar-tensor theories of gravity are natural phenomenological alternatives to General Relativity. In these theories, the gravitational interaction is mediated by a scalar degree of freedom, besides the gravitons. In regions of the parameter space of these theories where constraints from both solar system experiments and binary-pulsar observations are satisfied, we show that binaries of neutron stars present marked differences from General Relativity in both the late-inspiral and merger phases. These strong-field effects are difficult to reproduce in General Relativity, even with an exotic equation of state. Further, we discuss possible detectability of these differences with Advanced LIGO/VIRGO as well as astrophysical implications in possible models for energetic electromagnetic events.

*We acknowledge support from CITA, a Marie Curie Career Grant and NSERC.

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Authors

  • Enrico Barausse

    • Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris/CNRS \& Department of Physics, University of Guelph

  • Carlos Palenzuela

    • Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics

  • Marcelo Ponce

    • Department of Physics, University of Guelph
    • Center for Computational Relativity and Gravitation, Rochester Institute of Technology \& Department of Physics, University of Guelph
    • University of Guelph

  • Luis Lehner

    • Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics \& CIFAR, Cosmology \& Gravity Program