Merging neutron stars, gravitational waves and the origin of the heavy chemical elements

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• Nial Tanvir (Leicester)
• Wednesday 26 November 2014, 14:30-15:30
• Physics West 117.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Ilya Mandel.

Mergers of compact binaries involving neutron stars lie at the intersection of several key problems in astrophysics. They are widely thought to lead to short-duration gamma-ray bursts; to be an important production site for the nucleosynthesis of r-process heavy elements; and to emit strong gravitational wave (GW) signals that are the most promising for detection by the next “advanced” generation of detectors. Recently, the first evidence for kilonova emission, predicted to be produced by the radioactive decay of species created during such a merger, was found, associated with sGRB 130603B. I will review this discovery together with other observational constraints on the nature of sGRBs, and consider the prospects for kilonovae as electromagnetic signatures of GW events.

This talk is part of the Astrophysics Talks Series series.

This talk is included in these lists:

• Astrophysics Talks Series
• Bham Talks
• Physics West 117
• What's on in Physics?

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