NP3M Science

The Nuclear Physics from Multi-Messenger Mergers (NP3M) NSF Focused Research Hub is a national effort in nuclear physics and astrophysical simulations to systematically probe the properties of hot and dense strongly interacting matter with multi-messenger observations of neutron stars. Neutron star mergers probe the nature of matter at densities and temperatures far beyond those present in atomic nuclei. The NP3M Hub is a new interdisciplinary collaboration across nuclear physics, astrophysics, and gravitational-wave physics to drive the coordinated advances in each of these sub-fields needed to interpret observations. The hub will develop theoretical models of dense and hot matter to connect multi-messenger observations of neutron stars to the underlying merger dynamics by means of numerical simulations.