Constraint on the maximum mass of neutron stars using GW170817 event

Masaru Shibata, Enping Zhou, Kenta Kiuchi, Sho Fujibayashi

Published 2019-05-09Version 1

We revisit the constraint on the maximum mass of cold spherical neutron stars coming from the observational results of GW170817. We develop a new framework for the analysis, which is more strict than previous ones, by employing both energy and angular momentum conservation laws as well as solid results of numerical-relativity simulations and of neutron stars in equilibrium. The new analysis shows that the maximum mass of cold spherical neutron stars can be only weakly constrained as $M_{\rm max} \alt 2.3M_\odot$. Our present result gives the following caution for interpreting the future observational results: Oversimplified analyses and/or inappropriate assumptions lead to an inaccurate constraint on the maximum mass of neutron stars.