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Abstract：
To pin down the Equation of State (EOS) of dense neutron-rich nucleonic matter has long been a major science driver for both nuclear physics and astrophysics. Nuclear symmetry energy encoding the energy cost of converting protons into neutrons in nuclear medium has been the most uncertain part of the EOS of dense matter in neutron stars. The magnitude and density dependence of nuclear symmetry energy affect the radii, tidal polarization and cooling rates of neutron stars as well as the strain amplitude and frequencies of gravitational waves from both spiraling neutron star binaries and oscillations of isolated neutron stars. Nuclear reactions especially those induced by highly neutron-rich radioactive beams, provide a unique means to probe experimentally the symmetry energy of neutron-rich matter in terrestrial laboratories. In this talk, we will discuss several outstanding issues concerning the EOS of dense neutron-rich matter, its astrophysical impacts and current efforts to constrain the EOS by combining terrestrial nuclear reaction experiments as well as observations of neutron stars using X-rays and gravitational waves.
Biography:
Dr. Bao-An Li is a theoretical nuclear physicist. He is currently a Texas A&M University System Regents’ Professor and a Fellow of the American Physical Society. Prof. Li received his Ph.D from Michigan State University in 1991. He held research, faculty and administrative positions at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the U.S., Niels Bohr Institute in Denmark, Hahn-Meitner Institute in Germany, Texas A&M University in College Station and Arkansas State University before joining the Texas A&M University-Commerce in 2006 as the Head of the Department of Physics and Astronomy. His research interest is in understanding the dynamics of nuclear reactions from low to relativistic energies as well as the Equation of State of dense neutron-rich nucleonic matter and its astrophysical applications. His work has received over 15,000 citations with a H-index of 63 so far according to Google Scholars. He has been serving as the Principle Investigator of the China-U.S. Theory Institute of Physics with Exotic Nuclei (CUSTIPEN) funded by the U.S. Department of Energy since 2013 and an oversea reviewer of the Chinese Academy of Science.