Implications of comprehensive nuclear and astrophysics data on the equations of state of neutron star matter

Abstract

The equations of state (EoSs) governing neutron star (NS) matter obtained for both non-relativistic and relativistic mean-field models are systematically confronted with a diverse set of terrestrial data and astrophysical observations within the Bayesian framework. The terrestrial data, spans from bulk properties of finite nuclei to the heavy-ion collisions, constrain the symmetric nuclear matter EoS and the symmetry energy up to twice the saturation density ($ρ_0$= 0.16 fm$^{-3}$). The astrophysical observations encompass the NS radius, the tidal deformability, and the lower bound on maximum mass. Three distinct posterior distributions of EoSs are generated by gradually updating the priors with different constraints: (i) only the maximum NS mass, (ii) incorporating additional terrestrial data, (iii) combining both the terrestrial data and astrophysical observations. These EoS distributions are then compared using the Kullback-Liebler divergence which highlights the significant constraints imposed on the EoSs by the currently available lower bound of NS maximum mass and terrestrial data. The remaining astrophysical observations marginally refine the EoS within the density range $\sim$ 2-3$ρ_0$. It is observed that the relativistic mean field model yields stiffer EoS around the saturation density, but predict smaller values of the speed of sound and proton fraction in the interior of massive stars.