Neutron Star Mergers and How to Study Them

Eric Burns

Published 2019-09-13Version 1

Neutron star mergers are the canonical multimessenger events: they have been observed through photons for half a century, through gravitational waves since 2017, and are thought to be sources of neutrinos and cosmic rays. Studies of these events enable unique insights into astrophysics, particles in the ultrarelativistic regime, the heavy element enrichment history through cosmic time, cosmology, dense matter, and fundamental physics. Uncovering this science requires vast observational resources, unparalleled coordination, and advancements in theory and simulation, which are constrained by our current understanding of nuclear, atomic, and astroparticle physics. This article is an attempt at a phenomenological prescription for science with neutron star mergers. We provide rough estimates on the detection rates of these events through various signals over the next decade. We summarize, develop, and quantify the future science that neutron star mergers enable and discuss the necessary capabilities to fully utilize these enigmatic sources to understand our universe.