Prof. Debarati Chatterjee

Neutron Stars are natural laboratories for studying Fundamental Physics under extreme conditions. The ultra-high densities in their core surpass those of nuclear and heavy-ion laboratories and provide an ideal environment to study properties of dense matter complementary to terrestrial experiments. It is conjectured that strange matter could appear, hints of whose existence is seen in particle accelerators, or dark matter could be captured, and may exist inside the core of neutron stars. Their presence in the stellar interior could affect observable neutron star properties, and their understanding is crucial for the correct interpretation of data. Over the past decades, multi-wavelength astronomy has provided us with a wealth of information about these compact objects. However, the recent detection of Gravitational Waves from Neutron Stars has opened up a new window of possibility to directly investigate their interior. In this talk, I will illustrate how Gravitational Wave astronomy is revolutionizing our understanding of dense matter.