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Colloquium
The Physics of Dense Matter: From the Laboratory to the Stars
Dr. Andrew W. Steiner
Los Alamos National Laboratory
and Michigan State University
Wednesday,
November 8, 2006 4:00 p.m. NSH 118
(Refreshments at
3:30 p.m. NSH 202)
Neutron stars are some of the most exotic objects in the universe, having central pressures of 1036 dynes/cm2 and gravitational binding energies of 1053 ergs. Even though the question "What is the nature of matter inside neutron stars?" is one of the principal questions facing nuclear astrophysics today, it is still not completely understood. Nevertheless, exciting progress has been made in the past several years through an interdisciplinary effort involving work in nuclear physics and astrophysics. Nuclear structure, heavy-ion reactions, and observations of neutron stars have all made contributions to this effort. In this talk, I discuss how all of these observables are being utilized to create a more complete picture of neutron stars and how they evolve.
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