Neutron stars are one of the most mysterious wonders in the universe. Their extreme densities hint at new and exotic physics at work within. Gravitational waves could be the key to unlocking their secrets. In particular, a first detection of gravitational waves from rapidly-spinning, deformed neutron stars could yield new insights into the physics of matter at extreme densities and under strong gravity. Once a first detection is made, a critical challenge will be to robustly extract physically interesting information from the detected signals. In this essay, we describe initial research towards answering this challenge, and thereby unleashing the full power of gravitational waves as an engine for the discovery of new physics.

中子星是宇宙中最神秘的奇迹之一。它们的极端密度暗示着新的、奇异的物理现象在其中发挥作用。引力波可能是解开它们秘密的关键。特别是，首次探测到来自快速旋转、变形中子星的引力波可能会对极端密度和强引力下的物质物理学产生新的见解。一旦进行第一次检测，一个关键的挑战将是从检测到的信号中稳健地提取物理上有趣的信息。在本文中，我们描述了应对这一挑战的初步研究，从而释放引力波的全部力量，作为发现新物理学的引擎。