The strong force remains one of the least well constrained theories in physics. The Equation of State of Dense Matter (dEOS) — pressure as a function of density, at and above nuclear density — is one of the observables which emerges from the strong force, and the dEOS results in a unique neutron star mass-radius relationship. I will describe measurements of neutron star radii using Hydrogen atmosphere low-mass X-ray binaries at low luminosities; how these luminosities are produced from nuclear reactions in the crusts of neutron stars; what constraints these measurements have already placed on the dEOS; and how observations of this class of sources can produce the neutron star mass-radius relationship, thereby constraining the dEOS and the strong force.

Page created on April 17, 2012.