Wednesday
11 Jun/25
14:00 - 15:00 (Europe/Zurich)

Jacquelyn Noronha-Hostler, "Neutron Stars  – Nature’s most extreme laboratory"

Where:  

4/3-006 at CERN

When intermediate mass stars have spent their fuel, a powerful explosion occurs called a supernova that then undergoes a gravitational collapse into a neutron star. Neutron stars reach the largest densest in the universe at their core, anything denser would collapse into a black hole. Because of these enormous densities and their large masses (1-2 times the mass of the sun), they are a unique system that combines extreme limits of all 4 fundamental forces of nature. General relativity is required due to their large masses squeezed into such a small space. Electromagnetism is important due to their significant magnetic fields, large concentration of electrons and muons, and visual signals. The strong force determines the equation of state, the degrees of freedom within neutron stars, and their interactions. The weak force plays a role due to the enormous number of neutrinos that appear (during mergers and supernovae) and may even be trapped within the star. Given these extreme conditions, the discovery potential for new physics both within the standard model but also beyond the standard model is enormous. I will discuss the latest efforts to discover new physics from neutron stars as well as the role that CERN can play.