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A new study by researchers from Penn State and the University of Tennessee Knoxville suggests that changes in neutrinos during neutron star mergers could play an important role in how these powerful cosmic events unfold, the signals they produce and the formation of heavy elements in the universe.
The findings, published in the journal Physical Review Letters, describe the first computer simulations to include changes in neutrino "flavors" during the merger of two neutron stars. The researchers said the results could improve understanding of how heavy metals and rare earth elements are formed, provide new insights into matter under extreme conditions and help scientists interpret future observations of these events.
Neutron stars are the extremely dense cores left behind after massive stars explode as supernovae. Although they are only about the size of a city, they can contain more mass than the Sun. When two neutron stars collide, they create some of the most energetic events in the universe. These collisions produce gravitational waves, which are ripples in space-time, and electromagnetic radiation such as X-rays and gamma rays that can be detected from Earth. Scientists also believe these mergers are one of the universe's main sources of heavy elements such as gold and platinum.
