Institute for Advanced Study Informal Astrophysics Seminar

Neutron stars live interesting and mysterious lives: from the moment they are created in core-collapse supernovae, to the moment some of them collapse to black-holes. In this talk, I will cover some aspects of their lives. I will discuss their birth in core-collapse supernovae, focusing on the key role of hydrodynamic turbulence in triggering the explosion. Then, I will talk about the ultimate fate of neutron stars born in close binaries. I will discuss the gravitational-wave emission during their last orbits and in the first milliseconds after merger. Finally, I will present results from recent studies of the neutron-rich outflows launched during neutron star mergers and discuss some of their implications for multimessenger astronomy and galactic chemical evolution.