Constraining the equation of state of nuclear matter with gravitational wave observations: Tidal deformability and tidal disruption

We study how to extract information on the neutron star equation of state from the gravitational wave signal emitted during the coalescence of a binary system composed of two neutron stars or a neutron star and a black hole. We use post-Newtonian templates which include the tidal deformability parameter and, when tidal disruption occurs before merger, a frequency cutoff. Assuming that this signal is detected by Advanced LIGO/Virgo or the Einstein Telescope, we evaluate the uncertainties on these parameters using different data-analysis strategies based on the Fisher matrix approach and on recently obtained analytical fits of the relevant quantities. We find that the tidal deformability is more effective than the stellar compactness to discriminate among different possible equations of state. © 2013 American Physical Society.