Neutron Stars and their Radii

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Neutron stars are the most compact objects known to exist in the universe. They have about the mass of the sun within a size of perhaps 15-30 km, which we know from theoretical calculations of how matter behaves at such high densities -- that is, at and above the density of an atomic nucleus. However, both the particle physics which goes into these calculations, and the calculations themselves are uncertain, giving rise to that factor of 2 range for their size. If we could accurately measure the sizes of neutron stars, we could work the problem backwards: to derive the particle physics which operates at and above nuclear density. This proposal is focussed around observational work to: (1) discover neutron stars suitable for measuring their radii -- that is, which have weak magnetic fields, and whose emission is dominated by the hot neturon star itself; (2) obtain measurements to accurately determine the sizes of these neutron stars. In addition, this proposal includes work associated with discovering and characterizing the highest redshift gamma-ray bursts, in collaboration with an extended, international group. Finally, this proposal also supports the leading short-notice astrophysical publication, The Astronomer's Telegram.