Physics-informed Bayesian neural network for the neutron star equation of state
Phys. Rev. D 114, 063063 – Published 29 September, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/x9r8-wbf7
Abstract
We present a physics-informed Bayesian neural-network framework for inferring neutron-star equations of state (EOS) from theoretical priors and propagating the resulting uncertainty to stellar observables. Trained on a representative set of hadronic EOS, the model learns the equation of state through stochastic variational inference by representing the squared speed of sound with a bounded network output and obtaining the pressure by integration, so that causality, thermodynamic stability, and monotonicity are guaranteed by construction, with low-density nuclear and perturbative-QCD normalization anchors. Core EOS are matched to a SLy4 crust and propagated through a unified Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff-plus-tidal solver to obtain posterior predictions in the mass-radius () and mass-tidal-deformability () planes. The physics-informed prior is then updated with current multimessenger data: NICER radius measurements, the GW170817 tidal-deformability constraint, and the maximum-mass bound, included directly in the variational objective. The observational update moves the canonical radius from in the prior to (nominal 90% variational credible interval), with and . This framework provides a nonparametric route from microphysical EOS uncertainty to neutron-star observables.