15–19 Jun 2026
Europe/Rome timezone

Beyond the tidal deformability: Gravitational-wave asteroseismology with the Einstein Telescope

16 Jun 2026, 15:24
12m
talk Div6 OSB

Speaker

Dr Fabian Gittins (Utrecht University)

Description

Third-generation gravitational-wave observatories will transform our ability to probe the physics of neutron stars. It is well known that tidal deformations in compact binaries leave an imprint on the associated gravitational-wave signal. To date, this effect has primarily been treated as a static perturbation, in which the tidal response is characterised by a single parameter: the tidal deformability $\Lambda$. However, much like the Moon raises waves in Earth's oceans, the orbital motion in neutron-star binaries drives dynamical tides, exciting oscillation modes within the star. These modes are sensitive seismological probes of the stellar interior and offer a novel way to explore the properties of dense matter. In this talk, I will demonstrate how the tidal interaction provokes oscillation modes and identify the most promising candidates for detection. I will then present results from a Bayesian parameter-estimation study, quantifying the detection criteria for resonantly excited modes, and demonstrate how neglecting these effects can bias parameter inference.

Author

Dr Fabian Gittins (Utrecht University)

Presentation materials

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