Abstract:
The time until black hole formation in a binary neutron-star (NS) merger contains invaluable information about the nuclear equation of state (EoS) but has thus far been difficult to measure. We propose a new way to constrain the merger remnant's NS lifetime, which is based on the tendency of the NS remnant neutrino-driven winds to enrich the ejected material with helium. We show here observations that indicate when compared with neutrino-hydrodynamic simulations of mergers, that the NS remnant in GW170817 collapses within 20-30 ms.
