Sanjay Reddy (U. Washington) - Recent progress in dense matter theory and its
implications for neutron stars

I will review recent progress in dense matter theory and highlight its implications to neutron
star structure. Controlled ab initio calculations of the equation of state of dense neutron matter
which employ realistic nucleon-nucleon potentials are now making useful predictions. They
suggest that the equation of state is relatively soft in the vicinity of nuclear saturation density
but quickly hardens due to 3-nucleon forces above saturation density. Accurate measurements
of the neutron star radii, large neutron star masses, and neutron star cooling can provide can
provide very useful constraints on the physics of this transition from soft to stiff. I will discuss
this interplay between theory and observations and identify how a few percent measurement
of the neutron star radius can have a transformational impact on the field.