We use a Bayesian inference analysis to explore the sensitivity of Taylor expansion parameters of the nuclear equation of state (EOS) to the neutron star dimensionless tidal deformability ($\mathrm{\Lambda }$) on 1- to 2-solar-mass neutron stars. A global power law dependence between tidal deformability and the compactness parameter ($M/R$) is verified over this mass region. To avoid superfluous correlations between the expansion parameters, we use a correlation-free EOS model based on a recently published metamodeling approach. We find that assumptions in the prior distribution strongly influence the constraints on $\mathrm{\Lambda }$. The $\mathrm{\Lambda }$ constraints obtained from the neutron star merger event GW170817 prefer low values of $L_{\text{sym}}$ and $K_{\text{sym}}$, for a canonical neutron star with 1.4 solar masses. For a neutron star with mass $<1.6$ solar masses, $L_{\text{sym}}$ and $K_{\text{sym}}$ are highly correlated with the tidal deformability. For more massive neutron stars, the tidal deformability is more strongly correlated with higher order Taylor expansion parameters.

• Received 14 January 2020
• Revised 1 April 2020
• Accepted 22 September 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.102.045808