Probing the equation of state of neutron star matter with gravitational waves from binary inspirals in light of GW170817: A brief review

Neutron stars (NSs) are unique testbeds for exploring the physics of strongly interacting matter in extreme regimes of density, temperature, and isospin that are not accessible anywhere else in the Universe. The nature of NS matter can now be probed with gravitational-waves (GWs) from binary driven by nonlinear gravity, where phenomena such as tidal effects lead to characteristic matter-dependent GW signatures. We focus here on the dominant tidal GW imprints, and review the role of the characteristic tidal deformability parameter, its definition, computation, and relation to the equation of state. We briefly discuss the implications of the event GW170817, which enabled the first-ever constraints on tidal deformability from GW data. Finally, we outline opportunities and challenges for probing subatomic physics with GWs, as the measurements will become more precise and will probe a diversity of the NS binary population in the coming years.