EPJ A Topical Issue: First joint gravitational wave and electromagnetic observations: Implications for nuclear and particle physics

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Published on 23 May 2018

Observation of gravitational waves (GWs), gamma-rays, x-rays, optical, infrared and radio waves from a neutron star (NS) merger event, now called GW170817, has the potential to revolutionize nuclear astrophysics. Data from this event has already provided strong hints that heavy elements are produced in NS mergers, and that these elements directly influence the observed optical and infra-red light curves. Properties of dense matter which was expected to play a key role also appear to be essential in interpreting the GW data.

An unprecedented observing campaign, triggered within hours of the discovery in GWs by Advanced LIGO & VIRGO, and in gamma-rays by Fermi and Integral, resulted in EM and GW data with detailed spectral and temporal features. This wealth of new data has arrived at the most opportune time. Advances in nuclear astrophysics, nuclear theory and computational astrophysics in recent years that led to the development of simulation and analysis tools that have played a critical role in the interpretation of the multi- messenger data from GW170817.

In the coming months, collaborative efforts involving nuclear physicists, computational astrophysicists and the observing (GW and EM) communities will continue to sharpen the interpretation, and likely identify puzzling discrepancies.

In this situation, the Editorial Board of The European Physical Journal A (Hadrons and Nuclei) decided that it is absolutely timely to prepare a Topical Issue which provides a forum for contributions from the communities involved in the analysis and early interpretation of data from GW170817 and their implications for nuclear physics.

Guest editors of the special issue:
David Blaschke, University of Wroclaw & JINR Dubna & NRNU (MEPhI), Moscow, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Monica Colpi, University of Milano Bicocca, Department of Physics G. Occhialini, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Charles Horowitz, Indiana University, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
David Radice, Princeton University & Institute for Advanced Study, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Authors are invited to submit their paper electronically through the website https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/epja. Submissions should be clearly identified as intended for the Topical Issue "The first Neutron Star Merger Observation - Implications for Nuclear Physics". Papers will be published continuously and will appear (as soon as accepted) on the journal website. The electronic version of the Topical Issue will contain all accepted papers in the order of publication. All submitted papers will be refereed according to the usual high standards of the journal.

Manuscripts should be prepared following the instructions for authors available at: http://www.epj.org/images/stories/instructions/instructions_epja.pdf

The LaTeX template can be downloaded at: http://epj.org/images/stories/latex/epj_a_b_d_e.zip. General information about the journal can be found on http://epja.epj.org/.

For any kind of assistance during the submission procedure or for any technical questions, feel free to contact the editorial office at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.