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Abstract

It is well understood that the most basic building blocks of matter are elementary particles known as quarks. However, a complete understanding of how quarks form protons, neutrons, and ultimately atomic nuclei remains an open problem in physics. Over the past several decades, many neutron stars have been observed - compact stellar objects with masses similar to that of the Sun but with radii of only about 10 kilometers. These objects, sometimes referred to as “giant atomic nuclei,” exist in extreme conditions that offer valuable opportunities to investigate the behavior of quarks in dense matter. Understanding the internal structure of neutron stars from a quark-based perspective has become an important topic that connects particle physics, nuclear physics, and astrophysics.
In 2017, the merger of two neutron stars was observed, producing a black hole and emitting gravitational waves. This event marked the beginning of multi-messenger astronomy and provided a new way to explore the properties of dense matter. As gravitational wave observations continue to improve, they may offer new insights into how quarks behave inside neutron stars.
In this talk, I will discuss recent progress in efforts to build a coherent picture of physical phenomena that span a wide range of scales - from the microscopic world of quarks to the structure of neutron stars and black holes - drawing on examples from my own research.