PLACING BOUNDS ON THE NUCLEAR MATTER EQUATION OF STATE USING GRAVITATIONAL WAVE AND X-RAY OBSERVATIONS

The nuclear equation of state (EoS) is poorly constrained at present. Properties of neutron stars (NSs) such as radius and tidal deformability are strongly correlated with the EoS, providing an opportunity to study nuclear matter through observations of NSs. We construct a population of EoSs by randomly sampling a multidimensional Taylor expansion, then constructing correlation distributions between the nuclear parameter K_sym, radius, and tidal deformability. Using NICER measurements of radius from PSR J0030+0451 and LIGO measurements of tidal deformability from GW170817, we develop a statistical method to place bounds on K_sym. Work is ongoing to modify the physical models for the EoS, such as the inclusion of the 3rd order symmetry parameter J_sym, which appears to produce distributions of K_sym which are more consistent with measurements of GW170817 and J0030.