Hot and Dense Matter in Supernovae and Binary Mergers

Constantinos Constantinou, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany

The equation of state (EOS) of dense matter is essential in the description of astrophysical systems. Its cold component determines the structure of old neutron stars and the pre-merger evolution of binary systems. Its finite temperature properties are important during- and post-merger and in the hydrodynamic modelling of supernovae. I will discuss the construction of a complete EOS based on the potential model of Akmal, Pandharipande, and Ravenhall (APR) for conditions relevant to the aforementioned phenomena. In the bulk homogeneous phase, the role of the nucleon effective mass in thermal effects will be highlighted and special attention will be paid to the thermal and adiabatic indices which feature prominently in binary mergers. For the subnuclear phase, I will employ the Lattimer-Swesty (LS) approach which allows for a thermodynamically consistent treatment of matter inside and outside of nuclei. Throughout, comparisons with other models will be made.