GW170817 tidal deformability

GW170817 binary-neutron-star tidal deformability — DCT inherits GR + nuclear EOS.

Prediction	\(\Lambda_{1.4} < 800\); DCT inherits GR + nuclear EOS
Measured	\(\Lambda_{1.4} = 190^{+390}_{-120}\) (LVC PRL 121, 161101)
Residual	0.00σ
Status	PASS
Source paper	DCT-SBD-01

Mechanism

DCT inherits GR strong-field; neutron-star mass-radius and \(M_{\rm max}\) follow from the TOV equation with the standard nuclear equation of state. Tidal Love numbers and post-Keplerian parameters in binary pulsars are unchanged from the GR prediction.

Derivation

Strong-field GR is recovered (DCT-SBD-01), so the tidal Love number \(k_2\) and tidal deformability \(\Lambda = 2 k_2 (Rc^2/GM)^5/3\) inherit the GR formulae for the standard nuclear EOS. The GW170817 measurement \(\Lambda_{1.4} = 190^{+390}_{-120}\) is consistent at \(0\sigma\).

Python verification

The verification script for this observable is ligo_gravitational_wave_analysis.py. Run it with python3 ligo_gravitational_wave_analysis.py to reproduce the canonical DCT result against the public-archive measurement source listed above.

Methodology

Domain	Solar-system / strong-gravity (GR)
Input data source	See "References" below for the canonical public-archive citation. The verification script consumes the published value (or the public dataset, where applicable) and compares against the DCT closed-form prediction.
Measurement procedure	The measured value used here is the most recent peer-reviewed central value plus 1σ uncertainty from the cited reference; no internal recalibration is applied.
Acceptance threshold	HIT: residual within 1σ of measurement. SOFT: directional agreement, residual within bracketing range. OPEN: untested or unresolved.
Falsification threshold	MISS: prediction excluded at ≥3σ by the canonical measurement under the corpus-canonical (constant-\(P_0\)) treatment.
Current status	See the verdict pill in the prediction table above.

Cross-references

Related observables in the same domain: gw170817-cgw · ns-radii-nicer.

Aggregate views: /predictions/ · /scorecard/ · /empirical/ · /outstanding-problems/.

Audit notes

Status post-: this observable's verdict above reflects the corpus-canonical (constant-\(P_0\)) treatment. Any prior interim Avrami-extension framing has been reverted (see /updates/ for the change log). The cluster-paper deep-link above (DCT-PPN-01) is the canonical source of the derivation chain.

References

GW170817 PRL 119, 161101
Source paper: DCT-SBD-01

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