Holography and Neutron Stars

ongoing

My research project aims at using holographic methods to acquire insight into the properties of dense matter in the core of neutron stars. The latter are hard to predict due to the strength of interactions, that requires non-perturbative methods. A promising approach that is able to produce unambiguously non-perturbative results, is given by the holographic correspondence. In this project, I will apply the holographic correspondence in the regime of dense matter, with two main objectives. My first goal is to determine the phases of neutron star matter in holography. I will construct the holographic dual of dense baryonic matter, and extract relevant physical properties, including the neutron star equation of state, and the location of the transition to deconfined quark matter. I will also include the effects of isospin imbalance, to determine whether or not it can generate mesonic condensates in the core of neutron stars. My second objective is to understand the transport properties of dense holographic matter. These properties are relevant for neutron stars dynamics in a merger or during a supernova. In such events, the evolution contains two components : the strongly coupled baryonic matter that equilibrates fast, and is thus controlled by hydrodynamics, and the neutrino fluid, which is typically out of equilibrium. Both the hydrodynamics of the baryonic medium and the neutrino transport will be investigated. My results will be compared with available experimental constraints, and existing models proposed for the description of dense matter.