The Study of Gravitational Radiation Through the Merging of Binary Neutron Stars
by Swathya Chauhan
Category: STEM
Abstract – The study of gravitational waves/radiation was initially limited to only one way of detection and generally involved the study of black hole mergers. In 2017, the unanimous detection of GW170817 by LIGO and Virgo, and GRB 170817A by NASA’s Fermi Space telescope led to an interest in studying binary neutron star mergers as it presented confirmation for past predictions by the Theory of General Relativity and also had new implications related to the Hubble’s Constant, the resolution of stochastic backgrounds, the formation of the heavier elements in the universe and a lot more. There is also a possibility of the discovery of a new class of black holes as the nature of the post-merger remnant is unknown. This was the first discovery of its kind to have an electromagnetic component and this has led to the growth of multi-messenger astronomy, promoting further collaborations for these detections. LIGO and Virgo held another operation run later and one more binary neutron star merger candidate has been identified. Further detections and analyses are awaited.