WorldWideScience

Sample records for relativistic neutron star

  1. Slowly rotating general relativistic superfluid neutron stars with relativistic entrainment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Comer, G.L.

    2004-01-01

    Neutron stars that are cold enough should have two or more superfluids or supercondutors in their inner crusts and cores. The implication of superfluidity or superconductivity for equilibrium and dynamical neutron star states is that each individual particle species that forms a condensate must have its own, independent number density current and equation of motion that determines that current. An important consequence of the quasiparticle nature of each condensate is the so-called entrainment effect; i.e., the momentum of a condensate is a linear combination of its own current and those of the other condensates. We present here the first fully relativistic modeling of slowly rotating superfluid neutron stars with entrainment that is accurate to the second-order in the rotation rates. The stars consist of superfluid neutrons, superconducting protons, and a highly degenerate, relativistic gas of electrons. We use a relativistic σ-ω mean field model for the equation of state of the matter and the entrainment. We determine the effect of a relative rotation between the neutrons and protons on a star's total mass, shape, and Kepler, mass-shedding limit

  2. Relativistic mean field model for entrainment in general relativistic superfluid neutron stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Comer, G.L.; Joynt, R.

    2003-01-01

    General relativistic superfluid neutron stars have a significantly more intricate dynamics than their ordinary fluid counterparts. Superfluidity allows different superfluid (and superconducting) species of particles to have independent fluid flows, a consequence of which is that the fluid equations of motion contain as many fluid element velocities as superfluid species. Whenever the particles of one superfluid interact with those of another, the momentum of each superfluid will be a linear combination of both superfluid velocities. This leads to the so-called entrainment effect whereby the motion of one superfluid will induce a momentum in the other superfluid. We have constructed a fully relativistic model for entrainment between superfluid neutrons and superconducting protons using a relativistic σ-ω mean field model for the nucleons and their interactions. In this context there are two notions of 'relativistic': relativistic motion of the individual nucleons with respect to a local region of the star (i.e. a fluid element containing, say, an Avogadro's number of particles), and the motion of fluid elements with respect to the rest of the star. While it is the case that the fluid elements will typically maintain average speeds at a fraction of that of light, the supranuclear densities in the core of a neutron star can make the nucleons themselves have quite high average speeds within each fluid element. The formalism is applied to the problem of slowly rotating superfluid neutron star configurations, a distinguishing characteristic being that the neutrons can rotate at a rate different from that of the protons

  3. Relativistic Processes and the Internal Structure of Neutron Stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alvarez-Castillo, D. E.; Kubis, S.

    2011-01-01

    Models for the internal composition of Dense Compact Stars are reviewed as well as macroscopic properties derived by observations of relativistic processes. Modeling of pure neutron matter Neutron Stars is presented and crust properties are studied by means of a two fluid model.

  4. Neutron stars with kaon condensation in relativistic effective model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wu, Chen; Ma, Yugang; Qian, Weiliang; Yang, Jifeng

    2013-01-01

    Relativistic mean-field theory with parameter sets FSUGold and IU-FSU is extended to study the properties of neutron star matter in β equilibrium by including Kaon condensation. The mixed phase of normal baryons and Kaon condensation cannot exist in neutron star matter for the FSUGold model and the IU-FSU model. In addition, it is found that when the optical potential of the K - in normal nuclear matter U K ≳ -100 MeV, the Kaon condensation phase is absent in the inner cores of the neutron stars. (author)

  5. Rotating relativistic neutron stars

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Weber, F.; Glendenning, N.K.

    1991-07-21

    Models of rotating neutron stars are constructed in the framework of Einstein's theory of general relativity. For this purpose a refined version of Hartle's method is applied. The properties of these objects, e.g. gravitational mass, equatorial and polar radius, eccentricity, red- and blueshift, quadrupole moment, are investigated for Kepler frequencies of 4000 s{sup {minus}1} {le} {Omega}{sub K} {le} 9000 s{sup {minus}1}. Therefore a self-consistency problem inherent in the determination of {Omega}{sub K} must be solved. The investigation is based on neutron star matter equations of state derived from the relativistic Martin-Schwinger hierarch of coupled Green's functions. By means of introducing the Hartree, Hartree-Fock, and ladder ({Lambda}) approximations, models of the equation of state derived. A special feature of the latter approximation scheme is the inclusion of dynamical two-particle correlations. These have been calculated from the relativistic T-matrix applying both the HEA and Bonn meson-exchange potentials of the nucleon-nucleon force. The nuclear forces of the former two treatments are those of the standard scalar-vector-isovector model of quantum hadron dynamics, with parameters adjusted to the nuclear matter data. An important aspect of this work consists in testing the compatibility of different competing models of the nuclear equation of state with data on pulsar periods. By this the fundamental problem of nuclear physics concerning the behavior of the equation of state at supernuclear densities can be treated.

  6. Axisymmetric general relativistic hydrodynamics: Long-term evolution of neutron stars and stellar collapse to neutron stars and black holes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shibata, Masaru

    2003-01-01

    We report a new implementation for axisymmetric simulation in full general relativity. In this implementation, the Einstein equations are solved using the Nakamura-Shibata formulation with the so-called cartoon method to impose an axisymmetric boundary condition, and the general relativistic hydrodynamic equations are solved using a high-resolution shock-capturing scheme based on an approximate Riemann solver. As tests, we performed the following simulations: (i) long-term evolution of nonrotating and rapidly rotating neutron stars, (ii) long-term evolution of neutron stars of a high-amplitude damping oscillation accompanied with shock formation, (iii) collapse of unstable neutron stars to black holes, and (iv) stellar collapses to neutron stars. Tests (i)-(iii) were carried out with the Γ-law equation of state, and test (iv) with a more realistic parametric equation of state for high-density matter. We found that this new implementation works very well: It is possible to perform the simulations for stable neutron stars for more than 10 dynamical time scales, to capture strong shocks formed at stellar core collapses, and to accurately compute the mass of black holes formed after the collapse and subsequent accretion. In conclusion, this implementation is robust enough to apply to astrophysical problems such as stellar core collapse of massive stars to a neutron star, and black hole, phase transition of a neutron star to a high-density star, and accretion-induced collapse of a neutron star to a black hole. The result for the first simulation of stellar core collapse to a neutron star started from a realistic initial condition is also presented

  7. Neutron stars in relativistic mean field theory with isovector scalar meson

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kubis, S.; Kutschera, M.; Stachniewicz, S.

    1996-12-01

    We study the equation of state (EOS) of neutron star matter in a relativistic mean field (RMF) theory with the isovector scalar mean field corresponding to the δ-meson [a 0 (980)]. A range of values of the δ-meson coupling compatible with the Bonn potentials is explored. Parameters of the model in the isovector sector are constrained to fit the nuclear symmetry energy, E s ∼ 30 MeV. We find that proton fraction of neutron star matter is higher in the presence of the δ-field whereas the energy per particle is lower. The EOS becomes slightly stiffer and the maximum mass of the neutron star increased with increasing δmeson coupling. The effect is stronger for soft EOS. (author). 7 refs, 6 figs, 1 tab

  8. Neutron stars in relativistic mean field theory with isovector scalar meson

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kubis, S.; Kutschera, M.; Stachniewicz, S.

    1998-01-01

    We study the equation of state (EOS) of β-stable dense matter and models of neutron stars in the relativistic mean field (RMF) theory with the isovector scalar mean field corresponding to the δ-meson (a 0 (980)). A range of values of the δ-meson coupling compatible with the Bonn potentials is explored. Parameters of the model in the isovector sector are constrained to fit the nuclear symmetry energy, E s ∼30 MeV. We find that the quantity most sensitive to the δ-meson coupling is the proton fraction of neutron star matter. It increases significantly in the presence of the δ-field. The energy per baryon also increases but the effect is smaller. The EOS becomes slightly stiffer and the maximum neutron star mass increases for stronger δ-meson coupling. (author)

  9. Neutron stars in relativistic mean field theory with isovector scalar meson

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kubis, S.; Kutschera, M.; Stachniewicz, S. [Institute of Nuclear Physics, Cracow (Poland)

    1996-12-01

    We study the equation of state (EOS) of neutron star matter in a relativistic mean field (RMF) theory with the isovector scalar mean field corresponding to the {delta}-meson [a{sub 0}(980)]. A range of values of the {delta}-meson coupling compatible with the Bonn potentials is explored. Parameters of the model in the isovector sector are constrained to fit the nuclear symmetry energy, E{sub s} {approx} 30 MeV. We find that proton fraction of neutron star matter is higher in the presence of the {delta}-field whereas the energy per particle is lower. The EOS becomes slightly stiffer and the maximum mass of the neutron star increased with increasing {delta}meson coupling. The effect is stronger for soft EOS. (author). 7 refs, 6 figs, 1 tab.

  10. Relativistic MHD modeling of magnetized neutron stars, pulsar winds, and their nebulae

    Science.gov (United States)

    Del Zanna, L.; Pili, A. G.; Olmi, B.; Bucciantini, N.; Amato, E.

    2018-01-01

    Neutron stars are among the most fascinating astrophysical sources, being characterized by strong gravity, densities about the nuclear one or even above, and huge magnetic fields. Their observational signatures can be extremely diverse across the electromagnetic spectrum, ranging from the periodic and low-frequency signals of radio pulsars, up to the abrupt high-energy gamma-ray flares of magnetars, where energies of ∼ {10}46 {erg} are released in a few seconds. Fast-rotating and highly magnetized neutron stars are expected to launch powerful relativistic winds, whose interaction with the supernova remnants gives rise to the non-thermal emission of pulsar wind nebulae, which are known cosmic accelerators of electrons and positrons up to PeV energies. In the extreme cases of proto-magnetars (magnetic fields of ∼ {10}15 G and millisecond periods), a similar mechanism is likely to provide a viable engine for the still mysterious gamma-ray bursts. The key ingredient in all these spectacular manifestations of neutron stars is the presence of strong magnetic fields in their constituent plasma. Here we will present recent updates of a couple of state-of-the-art numerical investigations by the high-energy astrophysics group in Arcetri: a comprehensive modeling of the steady-state axisymmetric structure of rotating magnetized neutron stars in general relativity, and dynamical 3D MHD simulations of relativistic pulsar winds and their associated nebulae.

  11. Neutron stars in relativistic mean field theory with isovector scalar meson

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kubis, S.; Kutschera, M.; Stachniewicz, S. [H. Niewodniczanski Institute of Nuclear Physics, Cracow (Poland)

    1998-03-01

    We study the equation of state (EOS) of {beta}-stable dense matter and models of neutron stars in the relativistic mean field (RMF) theory with the isovector scalar mean field corresponding to the {delta}-meson (a{sub 0}(980)). A range of values of the {delta}-meson coupling compatible with the Bonn potentials is explored. Parameters of the model in the isovector sector are constrained to fit the nuclear symmetry energy, E{sub s}{approx}30 MeV. We find that the quantity most sensitive to the {delta}-meson coupling is the proton fraction of neutron star matter. It increases significantly in the presence of the {delta}-field. The energy per baryon also increases but the effect is smaller. The EOS becomes slightly stiffer and the maximum neutron star mass increases for stronger {delta}-meson coupling. (author) 8 refs, 6 figs, 2 tabs

  12. Properties of general relativistic irrotational binary neutron stars at the innermost orbit

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Uryu, K.; Shibata, M.

    2001-01-01

    We investigate properties of binary neutron stars around innermost orbits, assuming that the binary is equal mass and in quasiequilibrium. The quasiequilibrium configurations are numerically computed assuming the existence of a helicoidal Killing vector, conformal flatness for spatial components of the metric, and irrotational velocity field for the neutron stars. The computation is performed for the polytropic equation of state with a wide range of the polytropic index n (= 0.5, 0.66667, 0.8, 1, 1.25), and compactness of neutron stars (M/R) ∞ (= 0.03-0.3). Quasiequilibrium sequences of constant rest mass are appropriate models for the final evolution phase of binary neutron stars. It is found that these sequences are always terminated at the innermost orbit where a cusp (inner Lagrange point) appears at the inner edges of the stellar surface. We apply a turning point method to determine the stability of the innermost orbits and found that the innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO) exists for stiff equations of state (n = 0.5 with any (M/R) ∞ and n = 0.66667 with (M/R) ∞ > or ∼ 0.17). The ISCO for n = 0.5 is carefully analyzed. It is clarified that the ISCO are mainly determined by a hydrodynamic instability for realistic compactness of the neutron stars as 0.14 ∞ < or ∼ 0.2. These configurations at the innermost orbits can be used as initial conditions for fully general relativistic simulation for the binary neutron star merger. (author)

  13. Relativistic calculations of coalescing binary neutron stars

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    We have designed and tested a new relativistic Lagrangian hydrodynamics code, which treats gravity in the conformally flat approximation to general relativity. We have tested the resulting code extensively, finding that it performs well for calculations of equilibrium single-star models, collapsing relativistic dust clouds, and ...

  14. Relativistic tidal properties of neutron stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Damour, Thibault; Nagar, Alessandro

    2009-01-01

    We study the various linear responses of neutron stars to external relativistic tidal fields. We focus on three different tidal responses, associated to three different tidal coefficients: (i) a gravito-electric-type coefficient Gμ l =[length] 2l+1 measuring the lth-order mass multipolar moment GM a 1 ...a l induced in a star by an external lth-order gravito-electric tidal field G a 1 ...a l ; (ii) a gravito-magnetic-type coefficient Gσ l =[length] 2l+1 measuring the lth spin multipole moment GS a 1 ...a l induced in a star by an external lth-order gravito-magnetic tidal field H a 1 ...a l ; and (iii) a dimensionless 'shape' Love number h l measuring the distortion of the shape of the surface of a star by an external lth-order gravito-electric tidal field. All the dimensionless tidal coefficients Gμ l /R 2l+1 , Gσ l /R 2l+1 , and h l (where R is the radius of the star) are found to have a strong sensitivity to the value of the star's 'compactness'c≡GM/(c 0 2 R) (where we indicate by c 0 the speed of light). In particular, Gμ l /R 2l+1 ∼k l is found to strongly decrease, as c increases, down to a zero value as c is formally extended to the 'black hole (BH) limit'c BH =1/2. The shape Love number h l is also found to significantly decrease as c increases, though it does not vanish in the formal limit c→c BH , but is rather found to agree with the recently determined shape Love numbers of black holes. The formal vanishing of μ l and σ l as c→c BH is a consequence of the no-hair properties of black holes. This vanishing suggests, but in no way proves, that the effective action describing the gravitational interactions of black holes may not need to be augmented by nonminimal worldline couplings.

  15. New relativistic effective interaction for finite nuclei, infinite nuclear matter, and neutron stars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, Bharat; Patra, S. K.; Agrawal, B. K.

    2018-04-01

    We carry out the study of finite nuclei, infinite nuclear matter, and neutron star properties with the newly developed relativistic force, the Institute of Physics Bhubaneswar-I (IOPB-I). Using this force, we calculate the binding energies, charge radii, and neutron-skin thickness for some selected nuclei. From the ground-state properties of superheavy nuclei (Z =120 ), it is noticed that considerable shell gaps appear at neutron numbers N =172 , 184, and 198, manifesting the magicity at these numbers. The low-density behavior of the equation of state for pure neutron matter is compatible with other microscopic models. Along with the nuclear symmetry energy, its slope and curvature parameters at the saturation density are consistent with those extracted from various experimental data. We calculate the neutron star properties with the equation of state composed of nucleons and leptons in β -equilibrium, which are in good agreement with the x-ray observations by Steiner [Astrophys. J. 722, 33 (2010), 10.1088/0004-637X/722/1/33] and Nättilä [Astron. Astrophys. 591, A25 (2016), 10.1051/0004-6361/201527416]. Based on the recent observation of GW170817 with a quasi-universal relation, Rezzolla et al. [Astrophys. J. Lett. 852, L25 (2018), 10.3847/2041-8213/aaa401] have set a limit for the maximum mass that can be supported against gravity by a nonrotating neutron star in the range 2.01 ±0.04 ≲M (M⊙)≲2.16 ±0.03 . We find that the maximum mass of the neutron star for the IOPB-I parametrization is 2.15 M⊙ . The radius and tidal deformability of a canonical neutron star of mass 1.4 M⊙ are 13.2 km and 3.9 ×1036g cm2s2 , respectively.

  16. An increased estimate of the merger rate of double neutron stars from observations of a highly relativistic system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burgay, M; D'Amico, N; Possenti, A; Manchester, R N; Lyne, A G; Joshi, B C; McLaughlin, M A; Kramer, M; Sarkissian, J M; Camilo, F; Kalogera, V; Kim, C; Lorimer, D R

    2003-12-04

    The merger of close binary systems containing two neutron stars should produce a burst of gravitational waves, as predicted by the theory of general relativity. A reliable estimate of the double-neutron-star merger rate in the Galaxy is crucial in order to predict whether current gravity wave detectors will be successful in detecting such bursts. Present estimates of this rate are rather low, because we know of only a few double-neutron-star binaries with merger times less than the age of the Universe. Here we report the discovery of a 22-ms pulsar, PSR J0737-3039, which is a member of a highly relativistic double-neutron-star binary with an orbital period of 2.4 hours. This system will merge in about 85 Myr, a time much shorter than for any other known neutron-star binary. Together with the relatively low radio luminosity of PSR J0737-3039, this timescale implies an order-of-magnitude increase in the predicted merger rate for double-neutron-star systems in our Galaxy (and in the rest of the Universe).

  17. On the short periods oscillation in relativistic stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aquilano, R.; Morales, S.; Navone, H.; Sevilla, D.; Zorzi, A.

    2009-01-01

    We expand the study of neutron and strange matter stars with general relativistic formalism. We analyze the correlation with the observational data short periods oscillations in these stars, and we intend to discriminate between them.

  18. General Relativistic Simulations of Low-Mass Magnetized Binary Neutron Star Mergers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giacomazzo, Bruno

    2017-01-01

    We will present general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations of binary neutron star (BNS) systems that produce long-lived neutron stars (NSs) after merger. While the standard scenario for short gamma-ray bursts (SGRBs) requires the formation after merger of a spinning black hole surrounded by an accretion disk, other theoretical models, such as the time-reversal scenario, predict the formation of a long-lived magnetar. The formation of a long-lived magnetar could in particular explain the X-ray plateaus that have been observed in some SGRBs. Moreover, observations of NSs with masses of 2 solar masses indicate that the equation of state of NS matter should support masses larger than that. Therefore a significant fraction of BNS mergers will produce long-lived NSs. This has important consequences both on the emission of gravitational wave signals and on their electromagnetic counterparts. We will discuss GRMHD simulations of ``low-mass'' magnetized BNS systems with different equations of state and mass ratios. We will describe the properties of their post-merger remnants and of their gravitational and electromagnetic emission.

  19. Asymmetric nuclear matter and neutron star properties within the extended Brueckner theory

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hassaneen, Khaled S.A. [Sohag University, Physics Department, Faculty of Science, Sohag (Egypt); Taif University, Physics Department, Faculty of Science, Taif (Saudi Arabia)

    2017-01-15

    Microscopically, the equation of state (EOS) and other properties of asymmetric nuclear matter at zero temperature have been investigated extensively by adopting the non-relativistic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock (BHF) and the extended BHF approaches by using the self-consistent Green's function approach or by including a phenomenological three-body force. Once three-body forces are introduced, the phenomenological saturation point is reproduced and the theory is applied to the study of neutron star properties. We can calculate the total mass and radius for neutron stars using various equations of state at high densities in β-equilibrium without hyperons. A comparison with other microscopic predictions based on non-relativistic and density-dependent relativistic mean-field calculations has been done. It is found that relativistic EOS yields however larger mass and radius for neutron star than predictions based on non-relativistic approaches. Also the three-body force plays a crucial role to deduce the theoretical value of the maximum mass of neutron stars in agreement with recent measurements of the neutron star mass. (orig.)

  20. Tidal Love Numbers of Neutron Stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hinderer, Tanja

    2008-01-01

    For a variety of fully relativistic polytropic neutron star models we calculate the star's tidal Love number k 2 . Most realistic equations of state for neutron stars can be approximated as a polytrope with an effective index n ∼ 0.5-1.0. The equilibrium stellar model is obtained by numerical integration of the Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkhov equations. We calculate the linear l = 2 static perturbations to the Schwarzschild spacetime following the method of Thorne and Campolattaro. Combining the perturbed Einstein equations into a single second-order differential equation for the perturbation to the metric coefficient g tt and matching the exterior solution to the asymptotic expansion of the metric in the star's local asymptotic rest frame gives the Love number. Our results agree well with the Newtonian results in the weak field limit. The fully relativistic values differ from the Newtonian values by up to ∼24%. The Love number is potentially measurable in gravitational wave signals from inspiralling binary neutron stars.

  1. Neutron Stars and Pulsars

    CERN Document Server

    Becker, Werner

    2009-01-01

    Neutron stars are the most compact astronomical objects in the universe which are accessible by direct observation. Studying neutron stars means studying physics in regimes unattainable in any terrestrial laboratory. Understanding their observed complex phenomena requires a wide range of scientific disciplines, including the nuclear and condensed matter physics of very dense matter in neutron star interiors, plasma physics and quantum electrodynamics of magnetospheres, and the relativistic magneto-hydrodynamics of electron-positron pulsar winds interacting with some ambient medium. Not to mention the test bed neutron stars provide for general relativity theories, and their importance as potential sources of gravitational waves. It is this variety of disciplines which, among others, makes neutron star research so fascinating, not only for those who have been working in the field for many years but also for students and young scientists. The aim of this book is to serve as a reference work which not only review...

  2. Simulating the dynamics of relativistic stars via a light-cone approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Siebel, Florian; Mueller, Ewald; Font, Jose A.; Papadopoulos, Philippos

    2002-01-01

    We present new numerical algorithms for the coupled Einstein-perfect-fluid system in axisymmetry. Our framework uses a foliation based on a family of light cones, emanating from a regular center, and terminating at future null infinity. This coordinate system is well adapted to the study of the dynamical spacetimes associated with isolated relativistic compact objects such as neutron stars. In particular, the approach allows the unambiguous extraction of gravitational waves at future null infinity and avoids spurious outer boundary reflections. The code can accurately maintain long-term stability of polytropic equilibrium models of relativistic stars. We demonstrate global energy conservation in a strongly perturbed neutron star spacetime, for which the total energy radiated away by gravitational waves corresponds to a significant fraction of the Bondi mass. As a first application we present results in the study of pulsations of axisymmetric relativistic stars, extracting the frequencies of the different fluid modes in fully relativistic evolutions of the Einstein-perfect-fluid system and making a first comparison between the gravitational news function and the predicted wave using the approximations of the quadrupole formula

  3. Neutron rich matter, neutron stars, and their crusts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Horowitz, C J

    2011-01-01

    Neutron rich matter is at the heart of many fundamental questions in Nuclear Physics and Astrophysics. What are the high density phases of QCD? Where did the chemical elements come from? What is the structure of many compact and energetic objects in the heavens, and what determines their electromagnetic, neutrino, and gravitational-wave radiations? Moreover, neutron rich matter is being studied with an extraordinary variety of new tools such as Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) and the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO). We describe the Lead Radius Experiment (PREX) that is using parity violation to measure the neutron radius in 208Pb. This has important implications for neutron stars and their crusts. Using large scale molecular dynamics, we model the formation of solids in both white dwarfs and neutron stars. We find neutron star crust to be the strongest material known, some 10 billion times stronger than steel. It can support mountains on rotating neutron stars large enough to generate detectable gravitational waves. Finally, we describe a new equation of state for supernova and neutron star merger simulations based on the Virial expansion at low densities, and large scale relativistic mean field calculations.

  4. Old and new neutron stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ruderman, M.

    1984-09-01

    The youngest known radiopulsar in the rapidly spinning magnetized neutron star which powers the Crab Nebula, the remnant of the historical supernova explosion of 1054 AD. Similar neutron stars are probably born at least every few hundred years, but are less frequent than Galactic supernova explosions. They are initially sources of extreme relativistic electron and/or positron winds (approx.10 38 s -1 of 10 12 eV leptons) which greatly decrease as the neutron stars spin down to become mature pulsars. After several million years these neutron stars are no longer observed as radiopulsars, perhaps because of large magnetic field decay. However, a substantial fraction of the 10 8 old dead pulsars in the Galaxy are the most probable source for the isotropically distributed γ-ray burst detected several times per week at the earth. Some old neutron stars are spun-up by accretion from companions to be resurrected as rapidly spinning low magnetic field radiopulsars. 52 references, 6 figures, 3 tables

  5. Neutron star moments of inertia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ravenhall, D. G.; Pethick, C. J.

    1994-01-01

    An approximation for the moment of inertia of a neutron star in terms of only its mass and radius is presented, and insight into it is obtained by examining the behavior of the relativistic structural equations. The approximation is accurate to approximately 10% for a variety of nuclear equations of state, for all except very low mass stars. It is combined with information about the neutron-star crust to obtain a simple expression (again in terms only of mass and radius) for the fractional moment of inertia of the crust.

  6. General relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations of binary neutron star mergers forming a long-lived neutron star

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ciolfi, Riccardo; Kastaun, Wolfgang; Giacomazzo, Bruno; Endrizzi, Andrea; Siegel, Daniel M.; Perna, Rosalba

    2017-03-01

    Merging binary neutron stars (BNSs) represent the ultimate targets for multimessenger astronomy, being among the most promising sources of gravitational waves (GWs), and, at the same time, likely accompanied by a variety of electromagnetic counterparts across the entire spectrum, possibly including short gamma-ray bursts (SGRBs) and kilonova/macronova transients. Numerical relativity simulations play a central role in the study of these events. In particular, given the importance of magnetic fields, various aspects of this investigation require general relativistic magnetohydrodynamics (GRMHD). So far, most GRMHD simulations focused the attention on BNS mergers leading to the formation of a hypermassive neutron star (NS), which, in turn, collapses within few tens of ms into a black hole surrounded by an accretion disk. However, recent observations suggest that a significant fraction of these systems could form a long-lived NS remnant, which will either collapse on much longer time scales or remain indefinitely stable. Despite the profound implications for the evolution and the emission properties of the system, a detailed investigation of this alternative evolution channel is still missing. Here, we follow this direction and present a first detailed GRMHD study of BNS mergers forming a long-lived NS. We consider magnetized binaries with different mass ratios and equations of state and analyze the structure of the NS remnants, the rotation profiles, the accretion disks, the evolution and amplification of magnetic fields, and the ejection of matter. Moreover, we discuss the connection with the central engine of SGRBs and provide order-of-magnitude estimates for the kilonova/macronova signal. Finally, we study the GW emission, with particular attention to the post-merger phase.

  7. Oscillations in neutron stars

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hoeye, Gudrun Kristine

    1999-07-01

    We have studied radial and nonradial oscillations in neutron stars, both in a general relativistic and non-relativistic frame, for several different equilibrium models. Different equations of state were combined, and our results show that it is possible to distinguish between the models based on their oscillation periods. We have particularly focused on the p-, f-, and g-modes. We find oscillation periods of II approx. 0.1 ms for the p-modes, II approx. 0.1 - 0.8 ms for the f-modes and II approx. 10 - 400 ms for the g-modes. For high-order (l (>{sub )} 4) f-modes we were also able to derive a formula that determines II{sub l+1} from II{sub l} and II{sub l-1} to an accuracy of 0.1%. Further, for the radial f-mode we find that the oscillation period goes to infinity as the maximum mass of the star is approached. Both p-, f-, and g-modes are sensitive to changes in the central baryon number density n{sub c}, while the g-modes are also sensitive to variations in the surface temperature. The g-modes are concentrated in the surface layer, while p- and f-modes can be found in all parts of the star. The effects of general relativity were studied, and we find that these are important at high central baryon number densities, especially for the p- and f-modes. General relativistic effects can therefore not be neglected when studying oscillations in neutron stars. We have further developed an improved Cowling approximation in the non-relativistic frame, which eliminates about half of the gap in the oscillation periods that results from use of the ordinary Cowling approximation. We suggest to develop an improved Cowling approximation also in the general relativistic frame. (Author)

  8. Oscillations in neutron stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hoeye, Gudrun Kristine

    1999-01-01

    We have studied radial and nonradial oscillations in neutron stars, both in a general relativistic and non-relativistic frame, for several different equilibrium models. Different equations of state were combined, and our results show that it is possible to distinguish between the models based on their oscillation periods. We have particularly focused on the p-, f-, and g-modes. We find oscillation periods of II approx. 0.1 ms for the p-modes, II approx. 0.1 - 0.8 ms for the f-modes and II approx. 10 - 400 ms for the g-modes. For high-order (l → 4) f-modes we were also able to derive a formula that determines II l+1 from II l and II l-1 to an accuracy of 0.1%. Further, for the radial f-mode we find that the oscillation period goes to infinity as the maximum mass of the star is approached. Both p-, f-, and g-modes are sensitive to changes in the central baryon number density n c , while the g-modes are also sensitive to variations in the surface temperature. The g-modes are concentrated in the surface layer, while p- and f-modes can be found in all parts of the star. The effects of general relativity were studied, and we find that these are important at high central baryon number densities, especially for the p- and f-modes. General relativistic effects can therefore not be neglected when studying oscillations in neutron stars. We have further developed an improved Cowling approximation in the non-relativistic frame, which eliminates about half of the gap in the oscillation periods that results from use of the ordinary Cowling approximation. We suggest to develop an improved Cowling approximation also in the general relativistic frame. (Author)

  9. On the illumination of neutron star accretion discs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilkins, D. R.

    2018-03-01

    The illumination of the accretion disc in a neutron star X-ray binary by X-rays emitted from (or close to) the neutron star surface is explored through general relativistic ray tracing simulations. The applicability of the canonical suite of relativistically broadened emission line models (developed for black holes) to discs around neutron stars is evaluated. These models were found to describe well emission lines from neutron star accretion discs unless the neutron star radius is larger than the innermost stable orbit of the accretion disc at 6 rg or the disc is viewed at high inclination, above 60° where shadowing of the back side of the disc becomes important. Theoretical emissivity profiles were computed for accretion discs illuminated by hotspots on the neutron star surfaces, bands of emission and emission by the entirety of the hot, spherical star surface and in all cases, the emissivity profile of the accretion disc was found to be well represented by a single power law falling off slightly steeper than r-3. Steepening of the emissivity index was found where the emission is close to the disc plane and the disc can appear truncated when illuminated by a hotspot at high latitude. The emissivity profile of the accretion disc in Serpens X-1 was measured and found to be consistent with a single unbroken power law with index q=3.5_{-0.4}^{+0.3}, suggestive of illumination by the boundary layer between the disc and neutron star surface.

  10. Multi-Wavelength Polarimetry of Isolated Neutron Stars

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roberto P. Mignani

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Isolated neutron stars are known to be endowed with extreme magnetic fields, whose maximum intensity ranges from 10 12 – 10 15 G, which permeates their magnetospheres. Their surrounding environment is also strongly magnetized, especially in the compact nebulae powered by the relativistic wind from young neutron stars. The radiation from isolated neutron stars and their surrounding nebulae is, thus, supposed to bring a strong polarization signature. Measuring the neutron star polarization brings important information about the properties of their magnetosphere and of their highly magnetized environment. Being the most numerous class of isolated neutron stars, polarization measurements have been traditionally carried out for radio pulsars, hence in the radio band. In this review, I summarize multi-wavelength linear polarization measurements obtained at wavelengths other than radio both for pulsars and other types of isolated neutron stars and outline future perspectives with the upcoming observing facilities.

  11. Gravitational waves from remnant massive neutron stars of binary neutron star merger: Viscous hydrodynamics effects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shibata, Masaru; Kiuchi, Kenta

    2017-06-01

    Employing a simplified version of the Israel-Stewart formalism of general-relativistic shear-viscous hydrodynamics, we explore the evolution of a remnant massive neutron star of binary neutron star merger and pay special attention to the resulting gravitational waveforms. We find that for the plausible values of the so-called viscous alpha parameter of the order 10-2 the degree of the differential rotation in the remnant massive neutron star is significantly reduced in the viscous time scale, ≲5 ms . Associated with this, the degree of nonaxisymmetric deformation is also reduced quickly, and as a consequence, the amplitude of quasiperiodic gravitational waves emitted also decays in the viscous time scale. Our results indicate that for modeling the evolution of the merger remnants of binary neutron stars we would have to take into account magnetohydrodynamics effects, which in nature could provide the viscous effects.

  12. Relativistic stars with purely toroidal magnetic fields

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kiuchi, Kenta; Yoshida, Shijun

    2008-01-01

    We investigate the effects of the purely toroidal magnetic field on the equilibrium structures of the relativistic stars. The basic equations for obtaining equilibrium solutions of relativistic rotating stars containing purely toroidal magnetic fields are derived for the first time. To solve these basic equations numerically, we extend the Cook-Shapiro-Teukolsky scheme for calculating relativistic rotating stars containing no magnetic field to incorporate the effects of the purely toroidal magnetic fields. By using the numerical scheme, we then calculate a large number of the equilibrium configurations for a particular distribution of the magnetic field in order to explore the equilibrium properties. We also construct the equilibrium sequences of the constant baryon mass and/or the constant magnetic flux, which model the evolution of an isolated neutron star as it loses angular momentum via the gravitational waves. Important properties of the equilibrium configurations of the magnetized stars obtained in this study are summarized as follows: (1) For the nonrotating stars, the matter distribution of the stars is prolately distorted due to the toroidal magnetic fields. (2) For the rapidly rotating stars, the shape of the stellar surface becomes oblate because of the centrifugal force. But, the matter distribution deep inside the star is sufficiently prolate for the mean matter distribution of the star to be prolate. (3) The stronger toroidal magnetic fields lead to the mass shedding of the stars at the lower angular velocity. (4) For some equilibrium sequences of the constant baryon mass and magnetic flux, the stars can spin up as they lose angular momentum.

  13. Cracking on anisotropic neutron stars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Setiawan, A. M.; Sulaksono, A.

    2017-07-01

    We study the effect of cracking of a local anisotropic neutron star (NS) due to small density fluctuations. It is assumed that the neutron star core consists of leptons, nucleons and hyperons. The relativistic mean field model is used to describe the core of equation of state (EOS). For the crust, we use the EOS introduced by Miyatsu et al. [1]. Furthermore, two models are used to describe pressure anisotropic in neutron star matter. One is proposed by Doneva-Yazadjiev (DY) [2] and the other is proposed by Herrera-Barreto (HB) [3]. The anisotropic parameter of DY and HB models are adjusted in order the predicted maximum mass compatible to the mass of PSR J1614-2230 [4] and PSR J0348+0432 [5]. We have found that cracking can potentially present in the region close to the neutron star surface. The instability due cracking is quite sensitive to the NS mass and anisotropic parameter used.

  14. General Relativistic Radiation MHD Simulations of Supercritical Accretion onto a Magnetized Neutron Star: Modeling of Ultraluminous X-Ray Pulsars

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Takahashi, Hiroyuki R. [Center for Computational Astrophysics, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588 (Japan); Ohsuga, Ken, E-mail: takahashi@cfca.jp, E-mail: ken.ohsuga@nao.ac.jp [Division of Theoretical Astronomy, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588 (Japan)

    2017-08-10

    By performing 2.5-dimensional general relativistic radiation magnetohydrodynamic simulations, we demonstrate supercritical accretion onto a non-rotating, magnetized neutron star, where the magnetic field strength of dipole fields is 10{sup 10} G on the star surface. We found the supercritical accretion flow consists of two parts: the accretion columns and the truncated accretion disk. The supercritical accretion disk, which appears far from the neutron star, is truncated at around ≃3 R {sub *} ( R {sub *} = 10{sup 6} cm is the neutron star radius), where the magnetic pressure via the dipole magnetic fields balances with the radiation pressure of the disks. The angular momentum of the disk around the truncation radius is effectively transported inward through magnetic torque by dipole fields, inducing the spin up of a neutron star. The evaluated spin-up rate, ∼−10{sup −11} s s{sup −1}, is consistent with the recent observations of the ultraluminous X-ray pulsars. Within the truncation radius, the gas falls onto a neutron star along the dipole fields, which results in a formation of accretion columns onto the northern and southern hemispheres. The net accretion rate and the luminosity of the column are ≃66 L {sub Edd}/ c {sup 2} and ≲10 L {sub Edd}, where L {sub Edd} is the Eddington luminosity and c is the light speed. Our simulations support a hypothesis whereby the ultraluminous X-ray pulsars are powered by the supercritical accretion onto the magnetized neutron stars.

  15. Limiting rotational period of neutron stars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glendenning, Norman K.

    1992-11-01

    We seek an absolute limit on the rotational period for a neutron star as a function of its mass, based on the minimal constraints imposed by Einstein's theory of relativity, Le Chatelier's principle, causality, and a low-density equation of state, uncertainties in which can be evaluated as to their effect on the result. This establishes a limiting curve in the mass-period plane below which no pulsar that is a neutron star can lie. For example, the minimum possible Kepler period, which is an absolute limit on rotation below which mass shedding would occur, is 0.33 ms for a M=1.442Msolar neutron star (the mass of PSR1913+16). A still lower curve, based only on the structure of Einstein's equations, limits any star whatsoever to lie in the plane above it. Hypothetical stars such as strange stars, if the matter of which they are made is self-bound in bulk at a sufficiently large equilibrium energy density, can lie in the region above the general-relativistic forbidden region, and in the region forbidden to neutron stars.

  16. Limiting rotational period of neutron stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Glendenning, N.K.

    1992-01-01

    We seek an absolute limit on the rotational period for a neutron star as a function of its mass, based on the minimal constraints imposed by Einstein's theory of relativity, Le Chatelier's principle, causality, and a low-density equation of state, uncertainties in which can be evaluated as to their effect on the result. This establishes a limiting curve in the mass-period plane below which no pulsar that is a neutron star can lie. For example, the minimum possible Kepler period, which is an absolute limit on rotation below which mass shedding would occur, is 0.33 ms for a M=1.442M circle-dot neutron star (the mass of PSR1913+16). A still lower curve, based only on the structure of Einstein's equations, limits any star whatsoever to lie in the plane above it. Hypothetical stars such as strange stars, if the matter of which they are made is self-bound in bulk at a sufficiently large equilibrium energy density, can lie in the region above the general-relativistic forbidden region, and in the region forbidden to neutron stars

  17. Neutron stars in non-linear coupling models

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Taurines, Andre R.; Vasconcellos, Cesar A.Z.; Malheiro, Manuel; Chiapparini, Marcelo

    2001-01-01

    We present a class of relativistic models for nuclear matter and neutron stars which exhibits a parameterization, through mathematical constants, of the non-linear meson-baryon couplings. For appropriate choices of the parameters, it recovers current QHD models found in the literature: Walecka, ZM and ZM3 models. We have found that the ZM3 model predicts a very small maximum neutron star mass, ∼ 0.72M s un. A strong similarity between the results of ZM-like models and those with exponential couplings is noted. Finally, we discuss the very intense scalar condensates found in the interior of neutron stars which may lead to negative effective masses. (author)

  18. Neutron stars in non-linear coupling models

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Taurines, Andre R.; Vasconcellos, Cesar A.Z. [Rio Grande do Sul Univ., Porto Alegre, RS (Brazil); Malheiro, Manuel [Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niteroi, RJ (Brazil); Chiapparini, Marcelo [Universidade do Estado, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

    2001-07-01

    We present a class of relativistic models for nuclear matter and neutron stars which exhibits a parameterization, through mathematical constants, of the non-linear meson-baryon couplings. For appropriate choices of the parameters, it recovers current QHD models found in the literature: Walecka, ZM and ZM3 models. We have found that the ZM3 model predicts a very small maximum neutron star mass, {approx} 0.72M{sub s}un. A strong similarity between the results of ZM-like models and those with exponential couplings is noted. Finally, we discuss the very intense scalar condensates found in the interior of neutron stars which may lead to negative effective masses. (author)

  19. Naturalness of Nonlinear Scalar Self-Couplings in a Relativistic Mean Field Theory for Neutron Stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maekawa, Claudio; Razeira, Moises; Vasconcellos, Cesar A. Z.; Dillig, Manfred; Bodmann, Bardo E. J.

    2004-01-01

    We investigate the role of naturalness in effective field theory. We focus on dense hadronic matter using a generalized relativistic multi-baryon lagrangian density mean field approach which contains nonlinear self-couplings of the σ, δ meson fields and the fundamental baryon octet. We adjust the model parameters to describe bulk static properties of ordinary nuclear matter. Then, we show that our approach represents a natural modelling of nuclear matter under the extreme conditions of density as the ones found in the interior of neutron stars

  20. Massive neutron star with strangeness in a relativistic mean-field model with a high-density cutoff

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Ying; Hu, Jinniu; Liu, Peng

    2018-01-01

    The properties of neutron stars with the strangeness degree of freedom are studied in the relativistic mean-field (RMF) model via including a logarithmic interaction as a function of the scalar meson field. This interaction, named the σ -cut potential, can largely reduce the attractive contributions of the scalar meson field at high density without any influence on the properties of nuclear structure around the normal saturation density. In this work, the TM1 parameter set is chosen as the RMF interaction, while the strengths of σ -cut potential are constrained by the properties of finite nuclei so that we can obtain a reasonable effective nucleon-nucleon interaction. The hyperons Λ ,Σ , and Ξ are considered in neutron stars within this framework, whose coupling constants with mesons are determined by the latest hyperon-nucleon and Λ -Λ potentials extracted from the available experimental data of hypernuclei. The maximum mass of neutron star can be larger than 2 M⊙ with these hyperons in the present framework. Furthermore, the nucleon mass at high density will be saturated due to this additional σ -cut potential, which is consistent with the conclusions obtained by other calculations such as Brueckner-Hartree-Fock theory and quark mean-field model.

  1. Nuclear structure for the crust of neutron stars and exotic nuclei

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Goegelein, Peter

    2007-01-01

    In this work the Skyrme Hartree-Fock and Relativistic Hartree--Fock approaches have been considered to describe the structure of nuclear systems ranging from finite nuclei, structures in the crust of neutron stars to homogeneous matter. Effects of pairing correlations and finite temperature are also taken into account. The numerical procedure in the cubic box is described for the Skyrme Hartree-Fock as well as the relativistic Hartree-Fock approach. And finally, results for the crust of neutron stars and exotic nuclei are presented and discussed. (orig.)

  2. Nuclear structure for the crust of neutron stars and exotic nuclei

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Goegelein, Peter

    2007-07-01

    In this work the Skyrme Hartree-Fock and Relativistic Hartree--Fock approaches have been considered to describe the structure of nuclear systems ranging from finite nuclei, structures in the crust of neutron stars to homogeneous matter. Effects of pairing correlations and finite temperature are also taken into account. The numerical procedure in the cubic box is described for the Skyrme Hartree-Fock as well as the relativistic Hartree-Fock approach. And finally, results for the crust of neutron stars and exotic nuclei are presented and discussed. (orig.)

  3. Structure and stability of warm cores in neutron stars

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ibanez Cabanell, J M [Departamento de Mecanica y Astronomia, Facultad de Matematicas, Burjasot-Valencia (Spain)

    1981-12-01

    Relativistic equations of structure are solved using Lamb's equations of state for warm neutron degenerate matter. The stability of isothermal cores in neutron stars is discussed and also the possible compatibility of the results obtained with experimental evidence is shown.

  4. Many-body theory of nuclear and neutron star matter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pandharipande, V.R.; Akmal, A.; Ravenhall, D.G.

    1998-01-01

    We present results obtained for nuclei, nuclear and neutron star matter, and neutron star structure obtained with the recent Argonne v 18 two- nucleon and Urbana IX three-nucleon interactions including relativistic boost corrections. These interactions predict that matter will undergo a transition to a spin layered phase with neutral pion condensation. We also consider the possibility of a transition to quark matter. (orig.)

  5. Many-body theory of nuclear and neutron star matter

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pandharipande, V R; Akmal, A; Ravenhall, D G [Dept. of Physics, Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL (United States)

    1998-06-01

    We present results obtained for nuclei, nuclear and neutron star matter, and neutron star structure obtained with the recent Argonne v{sub 18} two- nucleon and Urbana IX three-nucleon interactions including relativistic boost corrections. These interactions predict that matter will undergo a transition to a spin layered phase with neutral pion condensation. We also consider the possibility of a transition to quark matter. (orig.)

  6. A SCILAB Program for Computing General-Relativistic Models of Rotating Neutron Stars by Implementing Hartle's Perturbation Method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Papasotiriou, P. J.; Geroyannis, V. S.

    We implement Hartle's perturbation method to the computation of relativistic rigidly rotating neutron star models. The program has been written in SCILAB (© INRIA ENPC), a matrix-oriented high-level programming language. The numerical method is described in very detail and is applied to many models in slow or fast rotation. We show that, although the method is perturbative, it gives accurate results for all practical purposes and it should prove an efficient tool for computing rapidly rotating pulsars.

  7. Outer crust of nonaccreting cold neutron stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ruester, Stefan B.; Hempel, Matthias; Schaffner-Bielich, Juergen

    2006-01-01

    The properties of the outer crust of nonaccreting cold neutron stars are studied by using modern nuclear data and theoretical mass tables, updating in particular the classic work of Baym, Pethick, and Sutherland. Experimental data from the atomic mass table from Audi, Wapstra, and Thibault of 2003 are used and a thorough comparison of many modern theoretical nuclear models, both relativistic and nonrelativistic, is performed for the first time. In addition, the influences of pairing and deformation are investigated. State-of-the-art theoretical nuclear mass tables are compared to check their differences concerning the neutron drip line, magic neutron numbers, the equation of state, and the sequence of neutron-rich nuclei up to the drip line in the outer crust of nonaccreting cold neutron stars

  8. Role of pions and hyperons in neutron stars and supernovae

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Glendenning, N.K.

    1987-05-01

    Neutron stars are studied in the framework of nuclear relativistic field theory. Hyperons and pions significantly soften the equation of state of neutron star matter at moderate and high density. We conjecture that they are responsible for the softening that is found to be crucial to the bounce scenario in supernova calculations. Hyperons reduce the limiting mass of neutron stars predicted by theory by one half solar mass or more, which is a large effect compared to the range in which theories of matter predict this limit to fall. 6 refs., 2 figs

  9. Neutron stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Irvine, J.M.

    1978-01-01

    The subject is covered in chapters entitled: introduction (resume of stellar evolution, gross characteristics of neutron stars); pulsars (pulsar characteristics, pulsars as neutron stars); neutron star temperatures (neutron star cooling, superfluidity and superconductivity in neutron stars); the exterior of neutron stars (the magnetosphere, the neutron star 'atmosphere', pulses); neutron star structure; neutron star equations of state. (U.K.)

  10. Multipolar electromagnetic fields around neutron stars: general-relativistic vacuum solutions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pétri, J.

    2017-12-01

    Magnetic fields inside and around neutron stars are at the heart of pulsar magnetospheric activity. Strong magnetic fields are responsible for quantum effects, an essential ingredient to produce leptonic pairs and the subsequent broad-band radiation. The variety of electromagnetic field topologies could lead to the observed diversity of neutron star classes. Thus, it is important to include multipolar components to a presumably dominant dipolar magnetic field. Exact analytical solutions for these multipoles in Newtonian gravity have been computed in recent literature. However, flat space-time is not adequate to describe physics in the immediate surroundings of neutron stars. We generalize the multipole expressions to the strong gravity regime by using a slowly rotating metric approximation such as the one expected around neutron stars. Approximate formulae for the electromagnetic field including frame dragging are computed from which we estimate the Poynting flux and the braking index. Corrections to leading order in compactness and spin parameter are presented. As far as spin-down luminosity is concerned, it is shown that frame dragging remains irrelevant. For high-order multipoles starting from the quadrupole, the electric part can radiate more efficiently than the magnetic part. Both analytical and numerical tools are employed.

  11. Detectable radio flares following gravitational waves from mergers of binary neutron stars.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakar, Ehud; Piran, Tsvi

    2011-09-28

    Mergers of neutron-star/neutron-star binaries are strong sources of gravitational waves. They can also launch subrelativistic and mildly relativistic outflows and are often assumed to be the sources of short γ-ray bursts. An electromagnetic signature that persisted for weeks to months after the event would strengthen any future claim of a detection of gravitational waves. Here we present results of calculations showing that the interaction of mildly relativistic outflows with the surrounding medium produces radio flares with peak emission at 1.4 gigahertz that persist at detectable (submillijansky) levels for weeks, out to a redshift of 0.1. Slower subrelativistic outflows produce flares detectable for years at 150 megahertz, as well as at 1.4 gigahertz, from slightly shorter distances. The radio transient RT 19870422 (ref. 11) has the properties predicted by our model, and its most probable origin is the merger of a compact neutron-star/neutron-star binary. The lack of radio detections usually associated with short γ-ray bursts does not constrain the radio transients that we discuss here (from mildly relativistic and subrelativistic outflows) because short γ-ray burst redshifts are typically >0.1 and the appropriate timescales (longer than weeks) have not been sampled.

  12. Solving the relativistic inverse stellar problem through gravitational waves observation of binary neutron stars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abdelsalhin, Tiziano; Maselli, Andrea; Ferrari, Valeria

    2018-04-01

    The LIGO/Virgo Collaboration has recently announced the direct detection of gravitational waves emitted in the coalescence of a neutron star binary. This discovery allows, for the first time, to set new constraints on the behavior of matter at supranuclear density, complementary with those coming from astrophysical observations in the electromagnetic band. In this paper we demonstrate the feasibility of using gravitational signals to solve the relativistic inverse stellar problem, i.e., to reconstruct the parameters of the equation of state (EoS) from measurements of the stellar mass and tidal Love number. We perform Bayesian inference of mock data, based on different models of the star internal composition, modeled through piecewise polytropes. Our analysis shows that the detection of a small number of sources by a network of advanced interferometers would allow to put accurate bounds on the EoS parameters, and to perform a model selection among the realistic equations of state proposed in the literature.

  13. CONSTRAINTS ON THE NEUTRON STAR AND INNER ACCRETION FLOW IN SERPENS X-1 USING NuSTAR

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Miller, J. M. [Department of Astronomy, The University of Michigan, 500 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1046 (United States); Parker, M. L.; Fabian, A. C. [Institute of Astronomy, The University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 OHA (United Kingdom); Fuerst, F.; Grefenstette, B. W.; Tendulkar, S.; Harrison, F. A.; Rana, V. [Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Bachetti, M.; Barret, D. [Universite de Toulouse, UPS-OMP, Toulouse (France); Boggs, S. E.; Craig, W. W.; Tomsick, J. A. [Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Chakrabarty, D. [Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 70 Vassar Street, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States); Christensen, F. E. [Danish Technical University, Lyngby (Denmark); Hailey, C. J.; Paerels, F. [Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory and Department of Astronomy, Columbia University, 550 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027 (United States); Natalucci, L. [Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali (INAF), Via Fosso del Cavaliere 100, Roma I-00133 (Italy); Stern, D. K. [Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109 (United States); Zhang, W. W., E-mail: jonmm@umich.edu [NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States)

    2013-12-10

    We report on an observation of the neutron star low-mass X-ray binary Serpens X-1, made with NuSTAR. The extraordinary sensitivity afforded by NuSTAR facilitated the detection of a clear, robust, relativistic Fe K emission line from the inner disk. A relativistic profile is required over a single Gaussian line from any charge state of Fe at the 5σ level of confidence, and any two Gaussians of equal width at the same confidence. The Compton back-scattering ''hump'' peaking in the 10-20 keV band is detected for the first time in a neutron star X-ray binary. Fits with relativistically blurred disk reflection models suggest that the disk likely extends close to the innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO) or stellar surface. The best-fit blurred reflection models constrain the gravitational redshift from the stellar surface to be z {sub NS} ≥ 0.16. The data are broadly compatible with the disk extending to the ISCO; in that case, z {sub NS} ≥ 0.22 and R {sub NS} ≤ 12.6 km (assuming M {sub NS} = 1.4 M {sub ☉} and a = 0, where a = cJ/GM {sup 2}). If the star is as large or larger than its ISCO, or if the effective reflecting disk leaks across the ISCO to the surface, the redshift constraints become measurements. We discuss our results in the context of efforts to measure fundamental properties of neutron stars, and models for accretion onto compact objects.

  14. Neutron skin of 208 Pb in consistency with neutron star observations

    CERN Document Server

    Miyazaki, K

    2007-01-01

    The renormalized meson-nucleon couplings are applied to the relativistic optical model of p-208Pb elastic scattering at T_{lab}=200MeV. We calculate the strength of the vector potential at nuclear center as varying the neutron radius of 208Pb. The neutron skin thickness S_{n} is determined in the comparison of the calculated potential with the phenomenological one. We find a value S_{n}=0.118fm being consistent with the astronomical observations of massive neutron stars (NSs), the standard scenario of NS cooling and the experimental nuclear symmetry energy in terrestrial laboratory. The value is complementary to the previous result S_{n}=0.119fm in the analysis of elastic scattering above T_{lab}=500MeV within the relativistic impulse optical model.

  15. Quark phases in neutron stars and a third family of compact stars as signature for phase transitions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schertler, K.; Greiner, C.; Schaffner-Bielich, J.; Thoma, M.H.

    2000-01-01

    The appearance of quark phases in the dense interior of neutron stars provides one possibility to soften the equation of state (EOS) of neutron star matter at high densities. This softening leads to more compact equilibrium configurations of neutron stars compared to pure hadronic stars of the same mass. We investigate the question to which amount the compactness of a neutron star can be attributed to the presence of a quark phase. For this purpose we employ several hadronic EOS in the framework of the relativistic mean-field (RMF) model and an extended MIT bag model to describe the quark phase. We find that -- almost independent of the model parameters -- the radius of a pure hadronic neutron star gets typically reduced by 20-30% if a pure quark phase in the center of the star does exist. For some EOS we furthermore find the possibility of a third family of compact stars which may exist besides the two known families of white dwarfs and neutron stars. We show how an experimental proof of the existence of a third family by mass and radius measurements may provide a unique signature for a phase transition inside neutron stars

  16. Superconducting superfluids in neutron stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carter, B.

    2002-01-01

    For treatment of the layers below the crust of a neutron star it is useful to employ a relativistic model involving three independently moving constituents, representing superfluid neutrons, superfluid protons, and degenerate negatively charged leptons. A Kalb-Ramond type formulation is used here to develop such a model for the specific purpose of application at the semi macroscopic level characterised by lengthscales that are long compared with the separation between the highly localised and densely packed proton vortices of the Abrikosov type lattice that carries the main part of the magnetic flux, but that are short compared with the separation between the neutron vortices. (orig.)

  17. Electromagnetic Chirps from Neutron Star-Black Hole Mergers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schnittman, Jeremy D.; Dal Canton, Tito; Camp, Jordan B.; Tsang, David; Kelly, Bernard J.

    2018-01-01

    We calculate the electromagnetic signal of a gamma-ray flare coming from the surface of a neutron star shortly before merger with a black hole companion. Using a new version of the Monte Carlo radiation transport code Pandurata that incorporates dynamic spacetimes, we integrate photon geodesics from the neutron star surface until they reach a distant observer or are captured by the black hole. The gamma-ray light curve is modulated by a number of relativistic effects, including Doppler beaming and gravitational lensing. Because the photons originate from the inspiraling neutron star, the light curve closely resembles the corresponding gravitational waveform: a chirp signal characterized by a steadily increasing frequency and amplitude. We propose to search for these electromagnetic chirps using matched filtering algorithms similar to those used in LIGO data analysis.

  18. Neutron star equilibrium configurations within a fully relativistic theory with strong, weak, electromagnetic, and gravitational interactions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Belvedere, Riccardo; Pugliese, Daniela; Rueda, Jorge A.; Ruffini, Remo; Xue, She-Sheng

    2012-01-01

    We formulate the equations of equilibrium of neutron stars taking into account strong, weak, electromagnetic, and gravitational interactions within the framework of general relativity. The nuclear interactions are described by the exchange of the σ, ω, and ρ virtual mesons. The equilibrium conditions are given by our recently developed theoretical framework based on the Einstein–Maxwell–Thomas–Fermi equations along with the constancy of the general relativistic Fermi energies of particles, the “Klein potentials”, throughout the configuration. The equations are solved numerically in the case of zero temperatures and for selected parameterizations of the nuclear models. The solutions lead to a new structure of the star: a positively charged core at supranuclear densities surrounded by an electronic distribution of thickness ∼ℏ/(m e c)∼10 2 ℏ/(m π c) of opposite charge, as well as a neutral crust at lower densities. Inside the core there is a Coulomb potential well of depth ∼m π c 2 /e. The constancy of the Klein potentials in the transition from the core to the crust, imposes the presence of an overcritical electric field ∼(m π /m e ) 2 E c , the critical field being E c =m e 2 c 3 /(eℏ). The electron chemical potential and the density decrease, in the boundary interface, until values μ e crust e core and ρ crust core . For each central density, an entire family of core–crust interface boundaries and, correspondingly, an entire family of crusts with different mass and thickness, exist. The configuration with ρ crust =ρ drip ∼4.3×10 11 gcm −3 separates neutron stars with and without inner crust. We present here the novel neutron star mass–radius for the especial case ρ crust =ρ drip and compare and contrast it with the one obtained from the traditional Tolman–Oppenheimer–Volkoff treatment.

  19. Neutron star properties and the relativistic nuclear equation of state of many-baryon matter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Weber, F.; Weigel, M.K.

    1989-01-01

    A relativistic model of baryons interacting via the exchange of σ-, ω-, π- and ρ-mesons (scalar-vector-isovector (SVI) theory) is used to describe the properties of both dense and superdense matter. For the theoretical frame, we used the temperature-dependent Green's function formalism. The equation of state (EOS) is calculated for nuclear as well as neutron matter in the Hartree (H) and Hartree-Fock (HF) approximation. The existence of phase transitions has been investigated. The isotherms of pressure as a function of density show for nuclear matter a critical temperature of about T c HF =16.6 MeV. (As in the usual scalar-vector (SV) theory, the phase transition is absent for neutron matter. A phase transition of both many-baryon systems in the high-pressure and high-density region, which has been found within the SV many-baryon theory, appears in the SVI theory too. The calculated maximum stable masses of neutron stars depend on 1. the underlying parameter set and/or 2. on the chosen approximation (i.e., H, HF; SV-, SVI theory, respectively). Hartree calculations lead to a mass stability limit of M max H ≤2.87 M sun (M max H ≤2.44 M sun when hyperons are taken into account). For the HF calculations we obtained M max HF ≤3.00 M sun (M max HF ≤2.85 M sun ). The corresponding maximum radii are (same notation as above) R H ≤13.2 km (R H ≤11.8 km), R HF ≤14.0 km (R HF ≤13.94 km).) The influence of the approximations, parameter sets and hyperons on the neutron star's moment of inertia is exhibited. (orig.)

  20. Advantage of nonlinear relativistic mean-field model in studying neutron star matter

    CERN Document Server

    Miyazaki, K

    2006-01-01

    We test the extended Zimanyi-Moszkowski model of relativistic nuclear matter for reproducing the density dependence of the symmetry energy, the direct URCA constraint M_{G}^{DU} \\geq 1.5M_{\\odot} on the gravitational mass of neutron star (NS), the large radii of NSs in RX J1856.5-3754 and qLMXB X7, the massive NSs in PSR J0751+1807 and 4U1700-37, and the baryonic mass of J0737-3039B. The two sets of NN\\rho coupling constant are considered. The first (EZM1) is the same as the Bonn A potential. The second (EZM2) is chosen so as to reproduce the symmetry energy E_s=32MeV of nuclear matter. The EZM1 can pass 6 tests among 7, while the EZM2 passes 5 tests. We can therefore conclude that the EZM model has unique and excellent features and is the most prospective one for studying the dense baryonic matter.

  1. How well can gravitational wave observations of coalescing binaries involving neutron stars constrain the neutron star equation of state?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bose, Sukanta

    2015-01-01

    The Advanced LIGO detectors began observation runs a few weeks ago. This has afforded relativists and astronomers the opportunity to use gravitational waves to improve our understanding of a variety of astronomical objects and phenomena. In this talk I will examine how well gravitational wave observations of coalescing binaries involving neutron stars might constrain the neutron star (NS) equation of state. These astrophysical constraints can improve our understanding of nuclear interactions in ways that complement the knowledge acquired from terrestrial labs. I will study the effects of different NS equations of states in both NS-NS and NS-Black Hole systems, with and without spin, on these constraint. (author)

  2. Properties of Neutrino-driven Ejecta from the Remnant of a Binary Neutron Star Merger: Pure Radiation Hydrodynamics Case

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fujibayashi, Sho [Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502 (Japan); Sekiguchi, Yuichiro [Department of Physics, Toho University, Funabashi, Chiba 274-8510 (Japan); Kiuchi, Kenta; Shibata, Masaru, E-mail: sho.fujibayashi@yukawa.kyoto-u.ac.jp [Center for Gravitational Physics, Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8502 (Japan)

    2017-09-10

    We performed general relativistic, long-term, axisymmetric neutrino radiation hydrodynamics simulations for the remnant formed after a binary neutron star merger, which consists of a massive neutron star and a torus surrounding it. As an initial condition, we employ the result derived in a three-dimensional, numerical relativity simulation for the binary neutron star merger. We investigate the properties of neutrino-driven ejecta. Due to the pair-annihilation heating, the dynamics of the neutrino-driven ejecta are significantly modified. The kinetic energy of the ejecta is about two times larger than that in the absence of pair-annihilation heating. This suggests that the pair-annihilation heating plays an important role in the evolution of merger remnants. The relativistic outflow, which is required for driving gamma-ray bursts, is not observed because the specific heating rate around the rotational axis is not sufficiently high, due to the baryon loading caused by the neutrino-driven ejecta from the massive neutron star. We discuss the condition for launching the relativistic outflow and the nucleosynthesis in the ejecta.

  3. Constraining neutron-star tidal Love numbers with gravitational-wave detectors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Flanagan, Eanna E.; Hinderer, Tanja

    2008-01-01

    Ground-based gravitational wave detectors may be able to constrain the nuclear equation of state using the early, low frequency portion of the signal of detected neutron star-neutron star inspirals. In this early adiabatic regime, the influence of a neutron star's internal structure on the phase of the waveform depends only on a single parameter λ of the star related to its tidal Love number, namely, the ratio of the induced quadrupole moment to the perturbing tidal gravitational field. We analyze the information obtainable from gravitational wave frequencies smaller than a cutoff frequency of 400 Hz, where corrections to the internal-structure signal are less than 10%. For an inspiral of two nonspinning 1.4M · neutron stars at a distance of 50 Megaparsecs, LIGO II detectors will be able to constrain λ to λ≤2.0x10 37 g cm 2 s 2 with 90% confidence. Fully relativistic stellar models show that the corresponding constraint on radius R for 1.4M · neutron stars would be R≤13.6 km (15.3 km) for a n=0.5 (n=1.0) polytrope with equation of state p∝ρ 1+1/n

  4. Bounds on the moment of inertia of nonrotating neutron stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sabbadini, A.G.; Hartle, J.B.

    1977-01-01

    Upper and lower bounds are placed on the moments of inertia of relativistic, spherical, perfect fluid neutron stars assuming that the pressure p and density p are positive and that (dp/drho) is positive. Bounds are obtained (a) for the moment of inertia of a star with given mass and radius, (b) for the moment of inertia of neutron stars for which the equation of state is known below a given density rho/sub omicron/and (c) for the mass-moment of inertia relation for stars whose equation of state is known below a given density rho/sub omicron/The bounds are optimum ones in the sense that there always exists a configuration consistent with the assumptions having a moment of inertia equal to that of the bound. The implications of the results for the maximum mass of slowly rotating neutron stars are discussed

  5. Non-Radial Oscillation Modes of Superfluid Neutron Stars Modeled with CompOSE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Prashanth Jaikumar

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available We compute the principal non-radial oscillation mode frequencies of Neutron Stars described with a Skyrme-like Equation of State (EoS, taking into account the possibility of neutron and proton superfluidity. Using the CompOSE database and interpolation routines to obtain the needed thermodynamic quantities, we solve the fluid oscillation equations numerically in the background of a fully relativistic star, and identify imprints of the superfluid state. Though these modes cannot be observed with current technology, increased sensitivity of future Gravitational-Wave Observatories could allow us to observe these oscillations and potentially constrain or refine models of dense matter relevant to the interior of neutron stars.

  6. A new nonlinear mean-field model of neutron star matter

    CERN Document Server

    Miyazaki, K

    2005-01-01

    A new relativistic mean-field model of neutron star matter is developed. It is a generalization of the Zimanyi-Moszkowski (ZM) model based on the constituent quark picture of baryons. The renormalized meson-hyperon coupling constants in medium are uniquely determined in contrast to the naive extention of ZM model and so the application of the model to high-density neutron star (NS) matter is possible. Our results of the particle composition and the mass-radius relation of NSs agree well with those obtained from the phenomenologically-determined realistic equation-of-state.

  7. Entrainment in the inner crust of a neutron star

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chamel, N.

    2004-01-01

    The inner crust of a neutron star, which is composed of a solid Coulomb lattice of nuclei immersed in a neutron super-fluid, is studied from both a macroscopic and a microscopic level. In the first part, we develop a non-relativistic but 4-dimensionally covariant formulation of the hydrodynamics of a perfect fluid mixture based on a variational principle. This formalism is applied to the description of neutron star crust as 2-fluid model, a neutron super-fluid and a plasma of nuclei and electrons coupled via non dissipative entrainment effects, whose microscopic evaluation is studied in a second part. Applying mean field methods beyond the Wigner-Seitz approximation, the Bragg scattering of dripped neutrons upon crustal nuclei lead to a 'mesoscopic' effective neutron mass, which unlike the 'microscopic' effective mass, takes very large values compared to the bare mass in the middle layers of the crust. (author)

  8. Asymmetric nuclear matter and neutron star properties

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Engvik, L.; Hjorth-Jensen, M.; Osnes, E.; Bao, G.; Oestgaard, E.

    1994-06-01

    Properties of neutron stars such as mass and radius, using a relativistic Dirac-Brueckner-Hartree-Fock approach, are calculated. Modern meson-exchange potential models are used to evaluate the G-matrix for asymmetric nuclear matter. For pure neutron matter the maximum mass is found to be M max ∼ 2.4M for a radius R ∼ 12 km. With a proton fraction of 30% the result is M max ∼ 2.1M for a radius R ∼ 10.5 km, close to the experimental values. The implications are discussed. 20 refs., 3 figs

  9. Distinguishing Newly Born Strange Stars from Neutron Stars with g-Mode Oscillations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fu Weijie; Wei Haiqing; Liu Yuxin

    2008-01-01

    The gravity-mode (g-mode) eigenfrequencies of newly born strange quark stars (SQSs) and neutron stars (NSs) are studied. It is found that the eigenfrequencies in SQSs are much lower than those in NSs by almost 1 order of magnitude, since the components of a SQS are all extremely relativistic particles while nucleons in a NS are nonrelativistic. We therefore propose that newly born SQSs can be distinguished from the NSs by detecting the eigenfrequencies of the g-mode pulsations of supernovae cores through gravitational radiation by LIGO-class detectors

  10. A binary neutron star GRB model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wilson, J.R.; Salmonson, J.D.; Wilson, J.R.; Mathews, G.J.

    1998-01-01

    In this paper we present the preliminary results of a model for the production of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) through the compressional heating of binary neutron stars near their last stable orbit prior to merger. Recent numerical studies of the general relativistic (GR) hydrodynamics in three spatial dimensions of close neutron star binaries (NSBs) have uncovered evidence for the compression and heating of the individual neutron stars (NSs) prior to merger 12. This effect will have significant effect on the production of gravitational waves, neutrinos and, ultimately, energetic photons. The study of the production of these photons in close NSBs and, in particular, its correspondence to observed GRBs is the subject of this paper. The gamma-rays arise as follows. Compressional heating causes the neutron stars to emit neutrino pairs which, in turn, annihilate to produce a hot electron-positron pair plasma. This pair-photon plasma expands rapidly until it becomes optically thin, at which point the photons are released. We show that this process can indeed satisfy three basic requirements of a model for cosmological gamma-ray bursts: (1) sufficient gamma-ray energy release (>10 51 ergs) to produce observed fluxes, (2) a time-scale of the primary burst duration consistent with that of a 'classical' GRB (∼10 seconds), and (3) the peak of the photon number spectrum matches that of 'classical' GRB (∼300 keV). copyright 1998 American Institute of Physics

  11. Neutron Stars and NuSTAR

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhalerao, Varun

    2012-05-01

    My thesis centers around the study of neutron stars, especially those in massive binary systems. To this end, it has two distinct components: the observational study of neutron stars in massive binaries with a goal of measuring neutron star masses and participation in NuSTAR, the first imaging hard X-ray mission, one that is extremely well suited to the study of massive binaries and compact objects in our Galaxy. The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) is a NASA Small Explorer mission that will carry the first focusing high energy X-ray telescope to orbit. NuSTAR has an order-of-magnitude better angular resolution and has two orders of magnitude higher sensitivity than any currently orbiting hard X-ray telescope. I worked to develop, calibrate, and test CdZnTe detectors for NuSTAR. I describe the CdZnTe detectors in comprehensive detail here - from readout procedures to data analysis. Detailed calibration of detectors is necessary for analyzing astrophysical source data obtained by the NuSTAR. I discuss the design and implementation of an automated setup for calibrating flight detectors, followed by calibration procedures and results. Neutron stars are an excellent probe of fundamental physics. The maximum mass of a neutron star can put stringent constraints on the equation of state of matter at extreme pressures and densities. From an astrophysical perspective, there are several open questions in our understanding of neutron stars. What are the birth masses of neutron stars? How do they change in binary evolution? Are there multiple mechanisms for the formation of neutron stars? Measuring masses of neutron stars helps answer these questions. Neutron stars in high-mass X-ray binaries have masses close to their birth mass, providing an opportunity to disentangle the role of "nature" and "nurture" in the observed mass distributions. In 2006, masses had been measured for only six such objects, but this small sample showed the greatest diversity in masses

  12. Three-Dimensional General-Relativistic Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations of Remnant Accretion Disks from Neutron Star Mergers: Outflows and r-Process Nucleosynthesis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Siegel, Daniel M; Metzger, Brian D

    2017-12-08

    The merger of binary neutron stars, or of a neutron star and a stellar-mass black hole, can result in the formation of a massive rotating torus around a spinning black hole. In addition to providing collimating media for γ-ray burst jets, unbound outflows from these disks are an important source of mass ejection and rapid neutron capture (r-process) nucleosynthesis. We present the first three-dimensional general-relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations of neutrino-cooled accretion disks in neutron star mergers, including a realistic equation of state valid at low densities and temperatures, self-consistent evolution of the electron fraction, and neutrino cooling through an approximate leakage scheme. After initial magnetic field amplification by magnetic winding, we witness the vigorous onset of turbulence driven by the magnetorotational instability (MRI). The disk quickly reaches a balance between heating from MRI-driven turbulence and neutrino cooling, which regulates the midplane electron fraction to a low equilibrium value Y_{e}≈0.1. Over the 380-ms duration of the simulation, we find that a fraction ≈20% of the initial torus mass is unbound in powerful outflows with asymptotic velocities v≈0.1c and electron fractions Y_{e}≈0.1-0.25. Postprocessing the outflows through a nuclear reaction network shows the production of a robust second- and third-peak r process. Though broadly consistent with the results of previous axisymmetric hydrodynamical simulations, extrapolation of our results to late times suggests that the total ejecta mass from GRMHD disks is significantly higher. Our results provide strong evidence that postmerger disk outflows are an important site for the r process.

  13. Relativistic stars in vector-tensor theories

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kase, Ryotaro; Minamitsuji, Masato; Tsujikawa, Shinji

    2018-04-01

    We study relativistic star solutions in second-order generalized Proca theories characterized by a U (1 )-breaking vector field with derivative couplings. In the models with cubic and quartic derivative coupling, the mass and radius of stars become larger than those in general relativity for negative derivative coupling constants. This phenomenon is mostly attributed to the increase of star radius induced by a slower decrease of the matter pressure compared to general relativity. There is a tendency that the relativistic star with a smaller mass is not gravitationally bound for a low central density and hence is dynamically unstable, but that with a larger mass is gravitationally bound. On the other hand, we show that the intrinsic vector-mode couplings give rise to general relativistic solutions with a trivial field profile, so the mass and radius are not modified from those in general relativity.

  14. A review on the relativistic effective field theory with parameterized couplings for nuclear matter and neutron stars

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vasconcellos, C. A. Zen, E-mail: cesarzen@cesarzen.com [Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Av. Bento Gonçalves 9500, 91501-970, Porto Alegre (Brazil); International Center for Relativistic Astrophysics Network (ICRANet), Piazza della Repubblica 10, 65122 Pescara (Italy)

    2015-12-17

    Nuclear science has developed many excellent theoretical models for many-body systems in the domain of the baryon-meson strong interaction for the nucleus and nuclear matter at low, medium and high densities. However, a full microscopic understanding of nuclear systems in the extreme density domain of compact stars is still lacking. The aim of this contribution is to shed some light on open questions facing the nuclear many-body problem at the very high density domain. Here we focus our attention on the conceptual issue of naturalness and its role in shaping the baryon-meson phase space dynamics in the description of the equation of state (EoS) of nuclear matter and neutrons stars. In particular, in order to stimulate possible new directions of research, we discuss relevant aspects of a recently developed relativistic effective theory for nuclear matter within Quantum Hadrodynamics (QHD) with genuine many-body forces and derivative natural parametric couplings. Among other topics we discuss in this work the connection of this theory with other known effective QHD models of the literature and its potentiality in describing a new physics for dense matter. The model with parameterized couplings exhausts the whole fundamental baryon octet (n, p, Σ{sup −}, Σ{sup 0}, Σ{sup +}, Λ, Ξ{sup −}, Ξ{sup 0}) and simulates n-order corrections to the minimal Yukawa baryon couplings by considering nonlinear self-couplings of meson fields and meson-meson interaction terms coupled to the baryon fields involving scalar-isoscalar (σ, σ∗), vector-isoscalar (ω, Φ), vector-isovector (ϱ) and scalar-isovector (δ) virtual sectors. Following recent experimental results, we consider in our calculations the extreme case where the Σ{sup −} experiences such a strong repulsion that its influence in the nuclear structure of a neutron star is excluded at all. A few examples of calculations of properties of neutron stars are shown and prospects for the future are discussed.

  15. The d*(2380) in Neutron Stars - A New Degree of Freedom?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vidaña, I.; Bashkanov, M.; Watts, D. P.; Pastore, A.

    2018-06-01

    Elucidating the appropriate microscopic degrees of freedom within neutron stars remains an open question which impacts nuclear physics, particle physics and astrophysics. The recent discovery of the first non-trivial dibaryon, the d* (2380), provides a new candidate for an exotic degree of freedom in the nuclear equation of state at high matter densities. In this paper a first calculation of the role of the d* (2380) in neutron stars is performed based on a relativistic mean field description of the nucleonic degrees of freedom supplemented by a free boson gas of d* (2380). The calculations indicate that the d* (2380) would appear at densities around three times normal nuclear matter saturation density and comprise around 20% of the matter in the centre of heavy stars with higher fractions possible in the higher densities of merger processes. The d* (2380) would also reduce the maximum star mass by around 15% and have significant influence on the fractional proton/neutron composition. New possibilities for neutron star cooling mechanisms arising from the d* (2380) are also predicted.

  16. 1S0 proton superfluidity in neutron star matter: Impact of bulk properties

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tanigawa, Tomonori; Matsuzaki, Masayuki; Chiba, Satoshi

    2004-01-01

    We study the 1 S 0 proton pairing gap in neutron star matter putting emphasis on influence of the Dirac effective mass and the proton fraction on the gap within the relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov model. The gap equation is solved using the Bonn-B potential as a particle-particle channel interaction. It is found that the maximal pairing gap Δ max is 1-2 MeV, which has a strong correlation with the Dirac effective mass. Hence we suggest that it serves as a guide to narrow down parameter sets of the relativistic effective field theory. Furthermore, the more slowly protons increase with density in the core region of neutron stars, the wider the superfluid range and the slightly lower the peak of the gap become

  17. The effect of the scalar-isovector meson field on hyperon-rich neutron star matter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mi, Aijun; Zuo, Wei; Li, Ang

    2008-01-01

    We investigate the effect of the scalar-isovector δ-meson field on the equation of state (EOS) and composition of hyperonic neutron star matter, and the properties of hyperonic neutron stars within the framework of the relativistic mean field theory. The influence of the δ-field turns out to be quite different and generally weaker for hyperonic neutron star matter as compared to that for npeμ neutron star matter. We find that inclusion of the δ-field enhances the strangeness content slightly and consequently moderately softens the EOS of neutron star matter in its hyperonic phase. As for the composition of hyperonic star matter, the effect of the δ-field is shown to shift the onset of the negatively-charged (positively-charged) hyperons to slightly lower (higher) densities and to enhance (reduce) their abundances. The influence of the δ-field on the maximum mass of hyperonic neutron stars is found to be fairly weak, whereas inclusion of the δ-field turns out to enhance sizably both the radii and the moments of inertia of neutron stars with given masses. It is also shown that the effects of the δ-field on the properties of hyperonic neutron stars remain similar in the case of switching off the Σ hyperons. (author)

  18. Discriminating strange star mergers from neutron star mergers by gravitational-wave measurements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bauswein, A.; Oechslin, R.; Janka, H.-T.

    2010-01-01

    We perform three-dimensional relativistic hydrodynamical simulations of the coalescence of strange stars and explore the possibility to decide on the strange matter hypothesis by means of gravitational-wave measurements. Self-binding of strange quark matter and the generally more compact stars yield features that clearly distinguish strange star from neutron star mergers, e.g. hampering tidal disruption during the plunge of quark stars. Furthermore, instead of forming dilute halo structures around the remnant as in the case of neutron star mergers, the coalescence of strange stars results in a differentially rotating hypermassive object with a sharp surface layer surrounded by a geometrically thin, clumpy high-density strange quark matter disk. We also investigate the importance of including nonzero temperature equations of state in neutron star and strange star merger simulations. In both cases we find a crucial sensitivity of the dynamics and outcome of the coalescence to thermal effects, e.g. the outer remnant structure and the delay time of the dense remnant core to black hole collapse depend on the inclusion of nonzero temperature effects. For comparing and classifying the gravitational-wave signals, we use a number of characteristic quantities like the maximum frequency during inspiral or the dominant frequency of oscillations of the postmerger remnant. In general, these frequencies are higher for strange star mergers. Only for particular choices of the equation of state the frequencies of neutron star and strange star mergers are similar. In such cases additional features of the gravitational-wave luminosity spectrum like the ratio of energy emitted during the inspiral phase to the energy radiated away in the postmerger stage may help to discriminate coalescence events of the different types. If such characteristic quantities could be extracted from gravitational-wave signals, for instance with the upcoming gravitational-wave detectors, a decision on the

  19. On the stability and maximum mass of differentially rotating relativistic stars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weih, Lukas R.; Most, Elias R.; Rezzolla, Luciano

    2018-01-01

    The stability properties of rotating relativistic stars against prompt gravitational collapse to a black hole are rather well understood for uniformly rotating models. This is not the case for differentially rotating neutron stars, which are expected to be produced in catastrophic events such as the merger of binary system of neutron stars or the collapse of a massive stellar core. We consider sequences of differentially rotating equilibrium models using the j-constant law and by combining them with their dynamical evolution, we show that a sufficient stability criterion for differentially rotating neutron stars exists similar to the one of their uniformly rotating counterparts. Namely: along a sequence of constant angular momentum, a dynamical instability sets in for central rest-mass densities slightly below the one of the equilibrium solution at the turning point. In addition, following Breu & Rezzolla, we show that 'quasi-universal' relations can be found when calculating the turning-point mass. In turn, this allows us to compute the maximum mass allowed by differential rotation, Mmax,dr, in terms of the maximum mass of the non-rotating configuration, M_{_TOV}, finding that M_{max, dr} ˜eq (1.54 ± 0.05) M_{_TOV} for all the equations of state we have considered.

  20. Exchange of transverse plasmons and electrical conductivity of neutron star cores

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shternin, P. S.

    2008-01-01

    We study the electrical conductivity in magnetized neutron star cores produced by collisions between charged particles. We take into account the ordinary exchange of longitudinal plasmons and the exchange of transverse plasmons in collisions between particles. The exchange of transverse plasmons is important for collisions between relativistic particles, but it has been disregarded previously when calculating the electrical conductivity. We show that taking this exchange into account changes the electrical conductivity, including its temperature dependence (thus, for example, the temperature dependence of the electrical resistivity along the magnetic field in the low-temperature limit takes the form R parallel ∝ T 5/3 instead of the standard dependence R parallel ∝ T 2 for degenerate Fermi systems). We briefly describe the effect of possible neutron and proton superfluidity in neutron star cores on the electrical conductivity and discuss various scenarios for the evolution of neutron star magnetic fields

  1. Neutron stars in screened modified gravity: Chameleon versus dilaton

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brax, Philippe; Davis, Anne-Christine; Jha, Rahul

    2017-04-01

    We consider the scalar field profile around relativistic compact objects such as neutron stars for a range of modified gravity models with screening mechanisms of the chameleon and Damour-Polyakov types. We focus primarily on inverse power law chameleons and the environmentally dependent dilaton as examples of both mechanisms. We discuss the modified Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff equation and then implement a relaxation algorithm to solve for the scalar profiles numerically. We find that chameleons and dilatons behave in a similar manner and that there is a large degeneracy between the modified gravity parameters and the neutron star equation of state. This is exemplified by the modifications to the mass-radius relationship for a variety of model parameters.

  2. Radial oscillations of neutron stars in strong magnetic fields

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    The eigen frequencies of radial pulsations of neutron stars are calculated in a strong magnetic field. At low densities we use the magnetic BPS equation of state (EOS) similar to that obtained by Lai and Shapiro while at high densities the EOS obtained from the relativistic nuclear mean field theory is taken and extended to ...

  3. BINARY NEUTRON STARS IN QUASI-EQUILIBRIUM

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Taniguchi, Keisuke; Shibata, Masaru

    2010-01-01

    Quasi-equilibrium sequences of binary neutron stars are constructed for a variety of equations of state in general relativity. Einstein's constraint equations in the Isenberg-Wilson-Mathews approximation are solved together with the relativistic equations of hydrostationary equilibrium under the assumption of irrotational flow. We focus on unequal-mass sequences as well as equal-mass sequences, and compare those results. We investigate the behavior of the binding energy and total angular momentum along a quasi-equilibrium sequence, the endpoint of sequences, and the orbital angular velocity as a function of time, changing the mass ratio, the total mass of the binary system, and the equation of state of a neutron star. It is found that the orbital angular velocity at the mass-shedding limit can be determined by an empirical formula derived from an analytic estimation. We also provide tables for 160 sequences, which will be useful as a guideline of numerical simulations for the inspiral and merger performed in the near future.

  4. Illuminating gravitational waves: A concordant picture of photons from a neutron star merger

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kasliwal, M. M.; Nakar, E.; Singer, L. P.; Kaplan, D. L.; Cook, D. O.; Van Sistine, A.; Lau, R. M.; Fremling, C.; Gottlieb, O.; Jencson, J. E.; Adams, S. M.; Feindt, U.; Hotokezaka, K.; Ghosh, S.; Perley, D. A.; Yu, P.-C.; Piran, T.; Allison, J. R.; Anupama, G. C.; Balasubramanian, A.; Bannister, K. W.; Bally, J.; Barnes, J.; Barway, S.; Bellm, E.; Bhalerao, V.; Bhattacharya, D.; Blagorodnova, N.; Bloom, J. S.; Brady, P. R.; Cannella, C.; Chatterjee, D.; Cenko, S. B.; Cobb, B. E.; Copperwheat, C.; Corsi, A.; De, K.; Dobie, D.; Emery, S. W. K.; Evans, P. A.; Fox, O. D.; Frail, D. A.; Frohmaier, C.; Goobar, A.; Hallinan, G.; Harrison, F.; Helou, G.; Hinderer, T.; Ho, A. Y. Q.; Horesh, A.; Ip, W.-H.; Itoh, R.; Kasen, D.; Kim, H.; Kuin, N. P. M.; Kupfer, T.; Lynch, C.; Madsen, K.; Mazzali, P. A.; Miller, A. A.; Mooley, K.; Murphy, T.; Ngeow, C.-C.; Nichols, D.; Nissanke, S.; Nugent, P.; Ofek, E. O.; Qi, H.; Quimby, R. M.; Rosswog, S.; Rusu, F.; Sadler, E. M.; Schmidt, P.; Sollerman, J.; Steele, I.; Williamson, A. R.; Xu, Y.; Yan, L.; Yatsu, Y.; Zhang, C.; Zhao, W.

    2017-12-01

    Merging neutron stars offer an excellent laboratory for simultaneously studying strong-field gravity and matter in extreme environments. We establish the physical association of an electromagnetic counterpart (EM170817) with gravitational waves (GW170817) detected from merging neutron stars. By synthesizing a panchromatic data set, we demonstrate that merging neutron stars are a long-sought production site forging heavy elements by r-process nucleosynthesis. The weak gamma rays seen in EM170817 are dissimilar to classical short gamma-ray bursts with ultrarelativistic jets. Instead, we suggest that breakout of a wide-angle, mildly relativistic cocoon engulfing the jet explains the low-luminosity gamma rays, the high-luminosity ultraviolet-optical-infrared, and the delayed radio and x-ray emission. We posit that all neutron star mergers may lead to a wide-angle cocoon breakout, sometimes accompanied by a successful jet and sometimes by a choked jet.

  5. Type II critical phenomena of neutron star collapse

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Noble, Scott C.; Choptuik, Matthew W.

    2008-01-01

    We investigate spherically symmetric, general relativistic systems of collapsing perfect fluid distributions. We consider neutron star models that are driven to collapse by the addition of an initially 'ingoing' velocity profile to the nominally static star solution. The neutron star models we use are Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff solutions with an initially isentropic, gamma law equation of state. The initial values of (1) the amplitude of the velocity profile, and (2) the central density of the star, span a parameter space, and we focus only on that region that gives rise to type II critical behavior, wherein black holes of arbitrarily small mass can be formed. In contrast to previously published work, we find that--for a specific value of the adiabatic index (Γ=2)--the observed type II critical solution has approximately the same scaling exponent as that calculated for an ultrarelativistic fluid of the same index. Further, we find that the critical solution computed using the ideal-gas equations of state asymptotes to the ultrarelativistic critical solution.

  6. GRB 130603B: No Compelling Evidence for Neutron Star Merger

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shlomo Dado

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The near infrared (NIR flare/rebrightening in the afterglow of the short hard gamma ray burst (SHB 130603B measured with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST and an alleged late-time X-ray excess were interpreted as possible evidence of a neutron star merger origin of SHBs. However, the X-ray afterglow that was measured with the Swift XRT and Newton XMM has the canonical behaviour of a synchrotron afterglow produced by a highly relativistic jet. The H-band flux observed with HST 9.41 days after burst is that expected from the measured late-time X-ray afterglow. The late-time flare/rebrightening of the NIR-optical afterglow of SHB 130603B could have been produced also by jet collision with an interstellar density bump. Moreover, SHB plus a kilonova can be produced also by the collapse of a compact star (neutron star, strange star, or quark star to a more compact object due to cooling, loss of angular momentum, or mass accretion.

  7. Bounds on the mass and the moment of inertia of nonrotating neutron stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sabbadini, A.G.

    1976-01-01

    Bounds are placed on the mass and the moment of inertia of relativistic, spherical, perfect fluid neutron stars, under minimal assumptions on the equation of state of neutron star matter above nuclear densities. The assumptions are: the pressure p, the density rho, and the derivative dp/d rho are positive. The equation of state is assumed to be known below the density rho 0 = 5 x 10 14 g/cm 3 . The upper bound on the mass of a nonrotating neutron star, under these assumptions, is found to be 5 M/sub solar mass/. Upper and lower bounds on the moment of inertia are derived: for a spherical star of given mass and radius (without assuming a specific equation of state in any density region); for a spherical neutron star of arbitrary mass and radius; for a spherical neutron star of given mass. These bounds are optimum ones, in the sense that there always exists a configuration consistent with the assumptions, having a moment of inertia equal to the bound. Using these results for the moment of inertia, the correction to the upper bound on the mass due to slow rotation is discussed

  8. An accurate metric for the spacetime around rotating neutron stars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pappas, George

    2017-04-01

    The problem of having an accurate description of the spacetime around rotating neutron stars is of great astrophysical interest. For astrophysical applications, one needs to have a metric that captures all the properties of the spacetime around a rotating neutron star. Furthermore, an accurate appropriately parametrized metric, I.e. a metric that is given in terms of parameters that are directly related to the physical structure of the neutron star, could be used to solve the inverse problem, which is to infer the properties of the structure of a neutron star from astrophysical observations. In this work, we present such an approximate stationary and axisymmetric metric for the exterior of rotating neutron stars, which is constructed using the Ernst formalism and is parametrized by the relativistic multipole moments of the central object. This metric is given in terms of an expansion on the Weyl-Papapetrou coordinates with the multipole moments as free parameters and is shown to be extremely accurate in capturing the physical properties of a neutron star spacetime as they are calculated numerically in general relativity. Because the metric is given in terms of an expansion, the expressions are much simpler and easier to implement, in contrast to previous approaches. For the parametrization of the metric in general relativity, the recently discovered universal 3-hair relations are used to produce a three-parameter metric. Finally, a straightforward extension of this metric is given for scalar-tensor theories with a massless scalar field, which also admit a formulation in terms of an Ernst potential.

  9. Observational Constraints on Quark Matter in Neutron Stars

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2007-01-01

    We study the observational constraints of mass and redshift on the properties of the equation of state (EOS) for quark matter in compact stars based on the quasi-particle description. We discuss two scenarios: strange stars and hybrid stars. We construct the equations of state utilizing an extended MIT bag model taking the medium effect into account for quark matter and the relativistic mean field theory for hadron matter. We show that quark matter may exist in strange stars and in the interior of neutron stars. The bag constant is a key parameter that affects strongly the mass of strange stars. The medium effect can lead to the stiffer hybrid-star EOS approaching the pure hadronic EOS, due to the reduction of quark matter, and hence the existence of heavy hybrid stars. We find that a middle range coupling constant may be the best choice for the hybrid stars being compatible with the observational constraints.

  10. Calculations of mass and moment of inertia for neutron stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moelnvik, T.; Oestgaard, E.

    1985-01-01

    Masses and moments of inertia for slowly-rotating neutron stars are calculated from the Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff equations and various equations of state for neutron-star matter. We have also obtained pressure and density as a function of the distance from the centre of the star. Generally, two different equations of state are applied for particle densities n>0.47 fm -3 and n -3 . The maximum mass is, in our calculations for all equations of state except for the unrealistic non-relativistic ideal Fermi gas, given by 1.50 Msub(sun) 44 gxcm 2 45 gxcm 2 , which also seem to agree very well with 'experimental results'. The radius of the star corresponding to maximum mass and maximum moment of inertia is given by 8.2 km< R<10.0 km, but a smaller central density rhosub(c) will give a larger radius. (orig.)

  11. Illuminating gravitational waves: A concordant picture of photons from a neutron star merger.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kasliwal, M M; Nakar, E; Singer, L P; Kaplan, D L; Cook, D O; Van Sistine, A; Lau, R M; Fremling, C; Gottlieb, O; Jencson, J E; Adams, S M; Feindt, U; Hotokezaka, K; Ghosh, S; Perley, D A; Yu, P-C; Piran, T; Allison, J R; Anupama, G C; Balasubramanian, A; Bannister, K W; Bally, J; Barnes, J; Barway, S; Bellm, E; Bhalerao, V; Bhattacharya, D; Blagorodnova, N; Bloom, J S; Brady, P R; Cannella, C; Chatterjee, D; Cenko, S B; Cobb, B E; Copperwheat, C; Corsi, A; De, K; Dobie, D; Emery, S W K; Evans, P A; Fox, O D; Frail, D A; Frohmaier, C; Goobar, A; Hallinan, G; Harrison, F; Helou, G; Hinderer, T; Ho, A Y Q; Horesh, A; Ip, W-H; Itoh, R; Kasen, D; Kim, H; Kuin, N P M; Kupfer, T; Lynch, C; Madsen, K; Mazzali, P A; Miller, A A; Mooley, K; Murphy, T; Ngeow, C-C; Nichols, D; Nissanke, S; Nugent, P; Ofek, E O; Qi, H; Quimby, R M; Rosswog, S; Rusu, F; Sadler, E M; Schmidt, P; Sollerman, J; Steele, I; Williamson, A R; Xu, Y; Yan, L; Yatsu, Y; Zhang, C; Zhao, W

    2017-12-22

    Merging neutron stars offer an excellent laboratory for simultaneously studying strong-field gravity and matter in extreme environments. We establish the physical association of an electromagnetic counterpart (EM170817) with gravitational waves (GW170817) detected from merging neutron stars. By synthesizing a panchromatic data set, we demonstrate that merging neutron stars are a long-sought production site forging heavy elements by r-process nucleosynthesis. The weak gamma rays seen in EM170817 are dissimilar to classical short gamma-ray bursts with ultrarelativistic jets. Instead, we suggest that breakout of a wide-angle, mildly relativistic cocoon engulfing the jet explains the low-luminosity gamma rays, the high-luminosity ultraviolet-optical-infrared, and the delayed radio and x-ray emission. We posit that all neutron star mergers may lead to a wide-angle cocoon breakout, sometimes accompanied by a successful jet and sometimes by a choked jet. Copyright © 2017, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

  12. Concluding Remarks: Connecting Relativistic Heavy Ion Collisions and Neutron Star Mergers by the Equation of State of Dense Hadron- and Quark Matter as signalled by Gravitational Waves

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hanauske, Matthias; Steinheimer, Jan; Bovard, Luke; Mukherjee, Ayon; Schramm, Stefan; Takami, Kentaro; Papenfort, Jens; Wechselberger, Natascha; Rezzolla, Luciano; Stöcker, Horst

    2017-07-01

    The underlying open questions in the fields of general relativistic astrophysics and elementary particle and nuclear physics are strongly connected and their results are interdependent. Although the physical systems are quite different, the 4D-simulation of a merger of a binary system of two neutron stars and the properties of the hot and dense matter created in high energy heavy ion collisions, strongly depend on the equation of state of fundamental elementary matter. Neutron star mergers represent optimal astrophysical laboratories to investigate the QCD phase structure using a spectrogram of the post-merger phase of the emitted gravitational waves. These studies can be supplemented by observations from heavy ion collisions to possibly reach a conclusive picture on the QCD phase structure at high density and temperature. As gravitational waves (GWs) emitted from merging neutron star binaries are on the verge of their first detection, it is important to understand the main characteristics of the underlying merging system in order to predict the expected GW signal. Based on numerical-relativity simulations of merging neutron star binaries, the emitted GW and the interior structure of the generated hypermassive neutron stars (HMNS) have been analyzed in detail. This article will focus on the internal and rotational HMNS properties and their connection with the emitted GW signal. Especially, the appearance of the hadon-quark phase transition in the interior region of the HMNS and its conjunction with the spectral properties of the emitted GW will be addressed and confronted with the simulation results of high energy heavy ion collisions.

  13. Introduction to neutron stars

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lattimer, James M. [Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-3800 (United States)

    2015-02-24

    Neutron stars contain the densest form of matter in the present universe. General relativity and causality set important constraints to their compactness. In addition, analytic GR solutions are useful in understanding the relationships that exist among the maximum mass, radii, moments of inertia, and tidal Love numbers of neutron stars, all of which are accessible to observation. Some of these relations are independent of the underlying dense matter equation of state, while others are very sensitive to the equation of state. Recent observations of neutron stars from pulsar timing, quiescent X-ray emission from binaries, and Type I X-ray bursts can set important constraints on the structure of neutron stars and the underlying equation of state. In addition, measurements of thermal radiation from neutron stars has uncovered the possible existence of neutron and proton superfluidity/superconductivity in the core of a neutron star, as well as offering powerful evidence that typical neutron stars have significant crusts. These observations impose constraints on the existence of strange quark matter stars, and limit the possibility that abundant deconfined quark matter or hyperons exist in the cores of neutron stars.

  14. On the shear instability in relativistic neutron stars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Corvino, Giovanni; Rezzolla, Luciano; Bernuzzi, Sebastiano; De Pietri, Roberto; Giacomazzo, Bruno

    2010-06-01

    We present new results on instabilities in rapidly and differentially rotating neutron stars. We model the stars in full general relativity and describe the stellar matter adopting a cold realistic equation of state based on the unified SLy prescription (Douchin and Haensel 2001 Astron. Astrophys. 380 151-67). We provide evidence that rapidly and differentially rotating stars that are below the expected threshold for the dynamical bar-mode instability, βc ≡ T/|W| ~= 0.25, do nevertheless develop a shear instability on a dynamical timescale and for a wide range of values of β. This class of instability, which has so far been found only for small values of β and with very small growth rates, is therefore more generic than previously found and potentially more effective in producing strong sources of gravitational waves. Overall, our findings support the phenomenological predictions made by Watts et al (2005 Astrophys. J. 618 L37) on the nature of the low-T/|W| instability as the manifestation of a shear instability in a region where the latter is possible only for small values of β. Furthermore, our results provide additional insight on shear instabilities and on the necessary conditions for their development.

  15. On the shear instability in relativistic neutron stars

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Corvino, Giovanni; Rezzolla, Luciano; Giacomazzo, Bruno [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Gravitationsphysik, Albert-Einstein-Institut, Golm (Germany); Bernuzzi, Sebastiano [Theoretical Physics Institute, University of Jena, 07743 Jena (Germany); De Pietri, Roberto, E-mail: Giovanni.Corvino@roma1.infn.i [Physics Department, Parma University and INFN, Parma (Italy)

    2010-06-07

    We present new results on instabilities in rapidly and differentially rotating neutron stars. We model the stars in full general relativity and describe the stellar matter adopting a cold realistic equation of state based on the unified SLy prescription (Douchin and Haensel 2001 Astron. Astrophys. 380 151-67). We provide evidence that rapidly and differentially rotating stars that are below the expected threshold for the dynamical bar-mode instability, {beta}{sub c} {identical_to} T/|W| {approx_equal} 0.25, do nevertheless develop a shear instability on a dynamical timescale and for a wide range of values of {beta}. This class of instability, which has so far been found only for small values of {beta} and with very small growth rates, is therefore more generic than previously found and potentially more effective in producing strong sources of gravitational waves. Overall, our findings support the phenomenological predictions made by Watts et al (2005 Astrophys. J. 618 L37) on the nature of the low-T/|W| instability as the manifestation of a shear instability in a region where the latter is possible only for small values of {beta}. Furthermore, our results provide additional insight on shear instabilities and on the necessary conditions for their development.

  16. Neutron stars as cosmic neutron matter laboratories

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pines, D.

    1986-01-01

    Recent developments which have radically changed our understanding of the dynamics of neutron star superfluids and the free precession of neutron stars are summarized, and the extent to which neutron stars are cosmic neutron matter laboratories is discussed. 17 refs., 1 tab

  17. Relativistic gravitational instabilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schutz, B.F.

    1987-01-01

    The purpose of these lectures is to review and explain what is known about the stability of relativistic stars and black holes, with particular emphases on two instabilities which are due entirely to relativistic effects. The first of these is the post-Newtonian pulsational instability discovered independently by Chandrasekhar (1964) and Fowler (1964). This effectively ruled out the then-popular supermassive star model for quasars, and it sets a limit to the central density of white dwarfs. The second instability was also discovered by Chandrasekhar (1970): the gravitational wave induced instability. This sets an upper bound on the rotation rate of neutron stars, which is near that of the millisecond pulsar PSR 1937+214, and which is beginning to constrain the equation of state of neutron matter. 111 references, 5 figures

  18. Extended I-Love relations for slowly rotating neutron stars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gagnon-Bischoff, Jérémie; Green, Stephen R.; Landry, Philippe; Ortiz, Néstor

    2018-03-01

    Observations of gravitational waves from inspiralling neutron star binaries—such as GW170817—can be used to constrain the nuclear equation of state by placing bounds on stellar tidal deformability. For slowly rotating neutron stars, the response to a weak quadrupolar tidal field is characterized by four internal-structure-dependent constants called "Love numbers." The tidal Love numbers k2el and k2mag measure the tides raised by the gravitoelectric and gravitomagnetic components of the applied field, and the rotational-tidal Love numbers fo and ko measure those raised by couplings between the applied field and the neutron star spin. In this work, we compute these four Love numbers for perfect fluid neutron stars with realistic equations of state. We discover (nearly) equation-of-state independent relations between the rotational-tidal Love numbers and the moment of inertia, thereby extending the scope of I-Love-Q universality. We find that similar relations hold among the tidal and rotational-tidal Love numbers. These relations extend the applications of I-Love universality in gravitational-wave astronomy. As our findings differ from those reported in the literature, we derive general formulas for the rotational-tidal Love numbers in post-Newtonian theory and confirm numerically that they agree with our general-relativistic computations in the weak-field limit.

  19. Prospects for neutron star equation of state constraints using ''recycled'' millisecond pulsars

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bogdanov, Slavko [Columbia University, Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory, New York, NY (United States)

    2016-02-15

    ''Recycled'' millisecond pulsars are a variety of rapidly spinning neutron stars that typically show thermal X-ray radiation due to the heated surface of their magnetic polar caps. Detailed numerical modeling of the rotation-induced thermal X-ray pulsations observed from recycled millisecond pulsars, including all relevant relativistic and stellar atmospheric effects, has been identified as a promising approach towards an astrophysical determination of the true neutron star mass-radius relation, and by extension the state of cold matter at densities exceeding those of atomic nuclei. Herein, I review the basic model and methodology commonly used to extract information regarding neutron star structure from the pulsed X-ray radiation observed from millisecond pulsars. I also summarize the results of past X-ray observations of these objects and the prospects for precision neutron star mass-radius measurements with the upcoming Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) X-ray timing mission. (orig.)

  20. Effects of neutrino emissivity on the cooling of neutron stars in the presence of a strong magnetic field

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Coelho, Eduardo Lenho, E-mail: eduardo.coelho@uva.br [Universidade Veiga de Almeida, 108 Ibituruna St., 20271-020, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil); Chiapparini, Marcelo [Instituto de Física, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, 524 São Francisco Xavier St., 20271-020, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil); Negreiros, Rodrigo Picanço [Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Gal. Milton Tavares de Souza Ave., 24210-346, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)

    2015-12-17

    One of the most interesting kind of neutron stars are the pulsars, which are highly magnetized neutron stars with fields up to 10{sup 14} G at the surface. The strength of magnetic field in the center of a neutron star remains unknown. According to the scalar virial theorem, magnetic field in the core could be as large as 10{sup 18} G. In this work we study the influence of strong magnetic fields on the cooling of neutron stars coming from direct Urca process. Direct Urca process is an extremely efficient mechanism for cooling a neutron star after its formation. The matter is described using a relativistic mean-field model at zero temperature with eight baryons (baryon octet), electrons and muons. We obtain the relative population of each species of particles as function of baryon density for different magnetic fields. We calculate numerically the cooling of neutron stars for a parametrized magnetic field and compare the results for the case without a magnetic field.

  1. Relativistic structure, stability, and gravitational collapse of charged neutron stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ghezzi, Cristian R.

    2005-01-01

    Charged stars have the potential of becoming charged black holes or even naked singularities. We present a set of numerical solutions of the Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkov equations that represents spherical charged compact stars in hydrostatic equilibrium. The stellar models obtained are evolved forward in time integrating the Einstein-Maxwell field equations. We assume an equation of state of a neutron gas at zero temperature. The charge distribution is taken as being proportional to the rest mass density distribution. The set of solutions present an unstable branch, even with charge-to-mass ratios arbitrarily close to the extremum case. We perform a direct check of the stability of the solutions under strong perturbations and for different values of the charge-to-mass ratio. The stars that are in the stable branch oscillate and do not collapse, while models in the unstable branch collapse directly to form black holes. Stars with a charge greater than or equal to the extreme value explode. When a charged star is suddenly discharged, it does not necessarily collapse to form a black hole. A nonlinear effect that gives rise to the formation of a shell of matter (in supermassive stars), is negligible in the present simulations. The results are in agreement with the third law of black hole thermodynamics and with the cosmic censorship conjecture

  2. CORE-COLLAPSE SUPERNOVA EQUATIONS OF STATE BASED ON NEUTRON STAR OBSERVATIONS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Steiner, A. W.; Hempel, M.; Fischer, T.

    2013-01-01

    Many of the currently available equations of state for core-collapse supernova simulations give large neutron star radii and do not provide large enough neutron star masses, both of which are inconsistent with some recent neutron star observations. In addition, one of the critical uncertainties in the nucleon-nucleon interaction, the nuclear symmetry energy, is not fully explored by the currently available equations of state. In this article, we construct two new equations of state which match recent neutron star observations and provide more flexibility in studying the dependence on nuclear matter properties. The equations of state are also provided in tabular form, covering a wide range in density, temperature, and asymmetry, suitable for astrophysical simulations. These new equations of state are implemented into our spherically symmetric core-collapse supernova model, which is based on general relativistic radiation hydrodynamics with three-flavor Boltzmann neutrino transport. The results are compared with commonly used equations of state in supernova simulations of 11.2 and 40 M ☉ progenitors. We consider only equations of state which are fitted to nuclear binding energies and other experimental and observational constraints. We find that central densities at bounce are weakly correlated with L and that there is a moderate influence of the symmetry energy on the evolution of the electron fraction. The new models also obey the previously observed correlation between the time to black hole formation and the maximum mass of an s = 4 neutron star

  3. General Relativistic Calculations for White Dwarf Stars

    OpenAIRE

    Mathew, Arun; Nandy, Malay K.

    2014-01-01

    The mass-radius relations for white dwarf stars are investigated by solving the Newtonian as well as Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff (TOV) equations for hydrostatic equilibrium assuming the electron gas to be non-interacting. We find that the Newtonian limiting mass of $1.4562M_\\odot$ is modified to $1.4166M_\\odot$ in the general relativistic case for $^4_2$He (and $^{12}_{\\ 6}$C) white dwarf stars. Using the same general relativistic treatment, the critical mass for $^{56}_{26}$Fe white dwarf is ...

  4. Are neutron stars crushed? Gravitomagnetic tidal fields as a mechanism for binary-induced collapse

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Favata, Marc

    2006-01-01

    Numerical simulations of binary neutron stars by Wilson, Mathews, and Marronetti indicated that neutron stars that are stable in isolation can be made to collapse to black holes when placed in a binary. This claim was surprising as it ran counter to the Newtonian expectation that a neutron star in a binary should be more stable, not less. After correcting an error found by Flanagan, Wilson and Mathews found that the compression of the neutron stars was significantly reduced but not eliminated. This has motivated us to ask the following general question: Under what circumstances can general-relativistic tidal interactions cause an otherwise stable neutron star to be compressed? We have found that if a nonrotating neutron star possesses a current-quadrupole moment, interactions with a gravitomagnetic tidal field can lead to a compressive force on the star. If this current quadrupole is induced by the gravitomagnetic tidal field, it is related to the tidal field by an equation-of-state-dependent constant called the gravitomagnetic Love number. This is analogous to the Newtonian Love number that relates the strength of a Newtonian tidal field to the induced mass quadrupole moment of a star. The compressive force is almost never larger than the Newtonian tidal interaction that stabilizes the neutron star against collapse. In the case in which a current quadrupole is already present in the star (perhaps as an artifact of a numerical simulation), the compressive force can exceed the stabilizing one, leading to a net increase in the central density of the star. This increase is small (< or approx. 1%) but could, in principle, cause gravitational collapse in a star that is close to its maximum mass. This paper also reviews the history of the Wilson-Mathews-Marronetti controversy and, in an appendix, extends the discussion of tidally induced changes in the central density to rotating stars

  5. Neutron star/red giant encounters in globular clusters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bailyn, C.D.

    1988-01-01

    The author presents a simple expression for the amount by which xsub(crit) is diminished as a star evolves xsub(crit) Rsub(crit)/R*, where Rsub(crit) is the maximum distance of closest approach between two stars for which the tidal energy is sufficient to bind the system, and R* is the radius of the star on which tides are being raised. Also it is concluded that tidal capture of giants by neutron stars resulting in binary systems is unlikely in globular clusters. However, collisions between neutron stars and red giants, or an alternative process involving tidal capture of a main-sequence star into an initially detached binary system, may result either in rapidly rotating neutron stars or in white dwarf/neutron star binaries. (author)

  6. Neutron fraction and neutrino mean free path predictions in relativistic mean field models

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hutauruk, P.T.P.; Williams, C.K.; Sulaksono, A.; Mart, T.

    2004-01-01

    The equation of state (EOS) of dense matter and neutrino mean free path (NMFP) in a neutron star have been studied by using relativistic mean field models motivated by effective field theory. It is found that the models predict too large proton fractions, although one of the models (G2) predicts an acceptable EOS. This is caused by the isovector terms. Except G2, the other two models predict anomalous NMFP's. In order to minimize the anomaly, besides an acceptable EOS, a large M* is favorable. A model with large M* retains the regularity in the NMFP even for a small neutron fraction

  7. Neutron stars with orbiting light

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lukacs, B.

    1987-11-01

    There is a wide-spread belief in the literature of relativistic astrophysics concerning nonsingular final states of the stellar evolution: the external gravitational field of a physically nonsingular central symmetric body (e.g. a neutron star) is asymptotically empty and simple, i.e. there are no closed or trapped light-like causal geodesics. Present paper shows that this belief is false: some examples are presented for nonsingular bodies with various equations of state, around which there are closed light-like trajectories: 'orbiting light'. The reality of the used equations of state is discussed in detail. Present state of particle physics does not establish the existence of matter with such equations of state, but the hypothetical subquark level of matter may have such equation of state, thus 'subquark-stars' may exist with orbiting light around them. So the criterion of 'nonsingularity' must be further analyzed and accurately defined. (D.Gy.) 24 refs.; 5 figs

  8. Relativistic shocks in electron-positron plasmas, and polar cap accretion onto neutron stars: Two non-linear problems in astrophysical plasma physics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arons, J.

    1988-01-01

    I outline particle simulations and theory of relativistic shock waves in an e/sup +-/ plasma. Magnetic reflection of particles is an essential role in the shock structure. Instability of the reflected particles in the shock front produces intense extraordinary mode radiation. Such shocks are candidates for the particle accelerator in plerions and in extragalactic jets only if the upstream Poynting flux composes no more than 10% of the total. I summarize analytical and numerical studies of radiation dominated accretion onto the magnetic poles of neutron stars. The upper limit to the photon luminosity depends upon magnetic confinement, not upon the dragging of photons into the star. Numerical solutions show the plasma forms large scale ''photon bubbles.'' I suggest the percolative loss of radiation controls the pressure and therefore the limits of magnetic confinement. Loss of magnetic confinement through resistive interchange instability is suggested as a means of generating TeV to PeV voltage drops along the magnetic field. 34 refs., 6 figs., 1 tab

  9. Probing the nuclear equation of state by heavy-ion reactions and neutron star properties

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sahu, P K; Cassing, W; Thoma, M H [Inst. fuer Theoretische Physik, Univ. Giessen (Germany)

    1998-06-01

    We discuss the nuclear equation of state (EOS) using a non-linear relativistic transport model. From the baryon flow for Ni + Ni as well as Au + Au systems we find that the strength of the vector potential has to be reduced at high density or at high relative momenta to describe the experimental flow data at 1-2 A GeV. We use the same dynamical model to calculate the nuclear EOS and then employ this EOS to neutron star structure calculations. We consider the core of the neutron star to be composed of neutrons with an admixture of protons, electrons, muons, sigmas and lambdas at zero temperature. We find that the nuclear equation of state is softer at high densities and hence the maximum mass and the radius of the neutron star are in the observable range of M {proportional_to} 1.7 M{sub s}un and R = 8 km, respectively. (orig.)

  10. Neutron matter, symmetry energy and neutron stars

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stefano, Gandolfi [Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL); Steiner, Andrew W [ORNL

    2016-01-01

    Recent progress in quantum Monte Carlo with modern nucleon-nucleon interactions have enabled the successful description of properties of light nuclei and neutron-rich matter. Of particular interest is the nuclear symmetry energy, the energy cost of creating an isospin asymmetry, and its connection to the structure of neutron stars. Combining these advances with recent observations of neutron star masses and radii gives insight into the equation of state of neutron-rich matter near and above the saturation density. In particular, neutron star radius measurements constrain the derivative of the symmetry energy.

  11. The influence of hyperons and strong magnetic field in neutron star properties

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lopes, L.L.; Menezes, D.P.

    2012-01-01

    Neutron stars are among the most exotic objects in the universe and constitute a unique laboratory to study nuclear matter above the nuclear saturation density. In this work, we study the equation of state (EoS) of the nuclear matter within a relativistic model subject to a strong magnetic field. We then apply this EoS to study and describe some of the physical characteristics of neutron stars, especially the massradius relation and chemical compositions. To study the influence of the magnetic field and the hyperons in the stellar interior, we consider altogether four solutions: two different magnetic fields to obtain a weak and a strong influence; and two configurations: a family of neutron stars formed only by protons, electrons, and neutrons and a family formed by protons, electrons, neutrons, muons, and hyperons. The limit and the validity of the results found are discussed with some care. In all cases, the particles that constitute the neutron star are in ,B equilibrium and zero total net charge. Our work indicates that the effect of a strong magnetic field has to be taken into account in the description of magnetars, mainly if we believe that there are hyperons in their interior, in which case the influence of the magnetic field can increase the mass by more than 10 %. We have also seen that although a magnetar can reach 2.48 M0, a natural explanation of why we do not know pulsars with masses above 2.0 Mo arises. We also discuss how the magnetic field affects the strangeness fraction in some standard neutron star masses, and to conclude our paper, we revisit the direct Urca process related to the cooling of the neutron stars and show how it is affected by the hyperons and the magnetic field. (author)

  12. Neutron Star Science with the NuSTAR

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vogel, J. K. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

    2015-10-16

    The Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR), launched in June 2012, helped scientists obtain for the first time a sensitive high-­energy X-­ray map of the sky with extraordinary resolution. This pioneering telescope has aided in the understanding of how stars explode and neutron stars are born. LLNL is a founding member of the NuSTAR project, with key personnel on its optics and science team. We used NuSTAR to observe and analyze the observations of different neutron star classes identified in the last decade that are still poorly understood. These studies not only help to comprehend newly discovered astrophysical phenomena and emission processes for members of the neutron star family, but also expand the utility of such observations for addressing broader questions in astrophysics and other physics disciplines. For example, neutron stars provide an excellent laboratory to study exotic and extreme phenomena, such as the equation of state of the densest matter known, the behavior of matter in extreme magnetic fields, and the effects of general relativity. At the same time, knowing their accurate populations has profound implications for understanding the life cycle of massive stars, star collapse, and overall galactic evolution.

  13. Existence of relativistic stars in f(R) gravity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Upadhye, Amol; Hu, Wayne

    2009-01-01

    We refute recent claims in the literature that stars with relativistically deep potentials cannot exist in f(R) gravity. Numerical examples of stable stars, including relativistic (GM * /r * ∼0.1), constant density stars, are studied. As a star is made larger, nonlinear 'chameleon' effects screen much of the star's mass, stabilizing gravity at the stellar center. Furthermore, we show that the onset of this chameleon screening is unrelated to strong gravity. At large central pressures P>ρ/3, f(R) gravity, like general relativity, does have a maximum gravitational potential, but at a slightly smaller value: GM * /r * | max =0.345<4/9 for constant density and one choice of parameters. This difference is associated with negative central curvature R under general relativity not being accessed in the f(R) model, but does not apply to any known astrophysical object.

  14. The Diversity of Neutron Stars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaplan, David L.

    2004-12-01

    Neutron stars are invaluable tools for exploring stellar death, the physics of ultra-dense matter, and the effects of extremely strong magnetic fields. The observed population of neutron stars is dominated by the >1000 radio pulsars, but there are distinct sub-populations that, while fewer in number, can have significant impact on our understanding of the issues mentioned above. These populations are the nearby, isolated neutron stars discovered by ROSAT, and the central compact objects in supernova remnants. The studies of both of these populations have been greatly accelerated in recent years through observations with the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the XMM-Newton telescope. First, we discuss radio, optical, and X-ray observations of the nearby neutron stars aimed at determining their relation to the Galactic neutron star population and at unraveling their complex physical processes by determining the basic astronomical parameters that define the population---distances, ages, and magnetic fields---the uncertainties in which limit any attempt to derive basic physical parameters for these objects. We conclude that these sources are 1e6 year-old cooling neutron stars with magnetic fields above 1e13 Gauss. Second, we describe the hollow supernova remnant problem: why many of the supernova remnants in the Galaxy have no indication of central neutron stars. We have undertaken an X-ray census of neutron stars in a volume-limited sample of Galactic supernova remnants, and from it conclude that either many supernovae do not produce neutron stars contrary to expectation, or that neutron stars can have a wide range in cooling behavior that makes many sources disappear from the X-ray sky.

  15. Antikaon condensation in neutron stars by a new nonlinear mean-field model

    CERN Document Server

    Miyazaki, K

    2005-01-01

    We have investigated both the K^- and \\bar{K}^0 condensations in beta-equilibrated neutron star (NS) matter using the relativistic mean-field model with the renormalized meson-baryon coupling constants. Adopting the antikaon optical potential of -120MeV, our model predicts the K^- condensation as the second-order phase transition inside the neutron star of maximum mass, while the deeper potential than -160MeV is ruled out. This is in contrast to the result of the density-dependent hadron field theory. Our model also predicts remarkable softening of the equation of state by the \\bar{K}^0 condensation at high densities. Although this is contrasted with the result of the nonlinear Walecka model, only the K^- condensation can be formed in NSs.

  16. Direct Urca Processes Involving Proton 1 S 0 Superfluidity in Neutron Star Cooling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Yan; Yu, Zi; Zhang, Xiao-Jun; Fan, Cun-Bo; Liu, Guang-Zhou; Zhao, En-Guang; Huang, Xiu-Lin; Liu, Cheng-Zhi

    2018-04-01

    A detailed description of the baryon direct Urca processes A: n\\to p+e+{\\bar{ν }}e, B: Λ \\to p+e+{\\bar{ν }}e and C: {\\Xi }-\\to Λ +e+{\\bar{ν }}e related to the neutron star cooling is given in the relativistic mean field approximation. The contributions of the reactions B and C on the neutrino luminosity are calculated by means of the relativistic expressions of the neutrino energy losses. Our results show that the total neutrino luminosities of the reactions A, B and C within the mass range (1.603–2.067) M⊙ ((1.515–1.840) M⊙ for TM1 model) for GM1 model are larger than the corresponding values for neutron star without hyperons. Furthermore, although the neutrino emissivity of the reaction A is suppressed with the appearance of the proton 1 S 0 superfluid, the contribution of the reactions B and C can still quicken a massive neutron star cooling. In particular, the reaction C in PSR J1614-2230 and J0348+0432 is not suppressed by the proton 1 S 0 superfluid due to the higher threshold density of the reaction C, which will further speed up the two pulsars cooling. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos. 11447165, 11373047, 11404336 and U1731240, Youth Innovation Promotion Association, CAS under Grant No. 2016056, and the Development Project of Science and Technology of Jilin Province under Grant No. 20180520077JH

  17. Relativistic mean field calculations in neutron-rich nuclei

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gangopadhyay, G.; Bhattacharya, Madhubrata [Department of Physics, University of Calcutta, 92 Acharya Prafulla Chandra Road, Kolkata 700 009 (India); Roy, Subinit [Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Block AF, Sector 1, Kolkata- 700 064 (India)

    2014-08-14

    Relativistic mean field calculations have been employed to study neutron rich nuclei. The Lagrange's equations have been solved in the co-ordinate space. The effect of the continuum has been effectively taken into account through the method of resonant continuum. It is found that BCS approximation performs as well as a more involved Relativistic Continuum Hartree Bogoliubov approach. Calculations reveal the possibility of modification of magic numbers in neutron rich nuclei. Calculation for low energy proton scattering cross sections shows that the present approach reproduces the density in very light neutron rich nuclei.

  18. Post-merger evolution of a neutron star-black hole binary with neutrino transport

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foucart, Francois; O'Connor, Evan; Roberts, Luke; Duez, Matthew D.; Haas, Roland; Kidder, Lawrence E.; Ott, Christian D.; Pfeiffer, Harald P.; Scheel, Mark A.; Szilagyi, Bela

    2015-06-01

    We present a first simulation of the post-merger evolution of a black hole-neutron star binary in full general relativity using an energy-integrated general-relativistic truncated moment formalism for neutrino transport. We describe our implementation of the moment formalism and important tests of our code, before studying the formation phase of an accretion disk after a black hole-neutron star merger. We use as initial data an existing general-relativistic simulation of the merger of a neutron star of mass 1.4 M⊙ with a black hole of mass 7 M⊙ and dimensionless spin χBH=0.8 . Comparing with a simpler leakage scheme for the treatment of the neutrinos, we find noticeable differences in the neutron-to-proton ratio in and around the disk, and in the neutrino luminosity. We find that the electron neutrino luminosity is much lower in the transport simulations, and that both the disk and the disk outflows are less neutron rich. The spatial distribution of the neutrinos is significantly affected by relativistic effects, due to large velocities and curvature in the regions of strongest emission. Over the short time scale evolved, we do not observe purely neutrino-driven outflows. However, a small amount of material (3 ×10-4M⊙ ) is ejected in the polar region during the circularization of the disk. Most of that material is ejected early in the formation of the disk, and is fairly neutron rich (electron fraction Ye˜0.15 - 0.25 ). Through r-process nucleosynthesis, that material should produce high-opacity lanthanides in the polar region, and could thus affect the light curve of radioactively powered electromagnetic transients. We also show that by the end of the simulation, while the bulk of the disk remains neutron rich (Ye˜0.15 - 0.2 and decreasing), its outer layers have a higher electron fraction: 10% of the remaining mass has Ye>0.3 . As that material would be the first to be unbound by disk outflows on longer time scales, and as composition evolution is

  19. Moments of inertia of neutron stars

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Greif, Svenja Kim; Hebeler, Kai; Schwenk, Achim [Institut fuer Kernphysik, Technische Universitaet Darmstadt (Germany); ExtreMe Matter Institute EMMI, GSI Helmholtzzentrum fuer Schwerionenforschung GmbH (Germany)

    2016-07-01

    Neutron stars are unique laboratories for matter at extreme conditions. While nuclear forces provide systematic constraints on properties of neutron-rich matter up to around nuclear saturation density, the composition of matter at high densities is still unknown. Recent precise observations of 2 M {sub CircleDot} neutron stars made it possible to derive systematic constraints on the equation of state at high densities and also neutron star radii. Further improvements of these constraints require the observation of even heavier neutron stars or a simultaneous measurement of mass and radius of a single neutron star. Since the precise measurement of neutron star radii is an inherently difficult problem, the observation of moment of inertia of neutron stars provides a promising alternative, since they can be measured by pulsar timing experiments. We present a theoretical framework that allows to calculate moments of inertia microscopically, we show results based on state of the art equations of state and illustrate how future measurements of moments of inertia allow to constrain the equation of state and other properties of neutron stars.

  20. Neutron relativistic phenomenological and microscopic optical potential

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shen Qing-biao; Feng Da-chun; Zhuo Yi-zhong

    1991-01-01

    In this paper, both the phenomenological and microscopic neutron relativistic optical potentials are presented. The global neutron relativistic phenomenological optical potential (RPOP) based on the available experimental data for various nuclei ranging from C to U with incident energies E n =20--1000 MeV has been obtained through an automatic search of the best parameters by computer. Then the nucleon relativistic microscopic optical potential (RMOP) is studied by utilizing the effective Lagrangian based on the popular Walecka model. Through comparison between the theoretical results and experimental data we shed some insight into both the RMOP and RPOP. Further improvement concerning how to combine the phenomenological potential with the microscopic one in order to reduce the number of free parameters appearing in the RPOP is suggested

  1. Anisotropic pressure and hyperons in neutron stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sulaksono, A.

    2015-01-01

    We study the effects of anisotropic pressure (AI-P) on properties of the neutron stars (NSs) with hyperons inside its core within the framework of extended relativistic mean field. It is found that the main effects of AI-P on NS matter is to increase the stiffness of the equation of state EOS, which compensates for the softening of the EOS due to the hyperons. The maximum mass and redshift predictions of anisotropic neutron star with hyperonic core are quite compatible with the result of recent observational constraints if we use the parameter of AI-P model h ≤ 0.8 [L. Herrera and W. Barreto, Phys. Rev. D 88 (2013) 084022.] and Λ ≤ -1.15 [D. D. Doneva and S. S. Yazadjiev, Phys. Rev. D 85 (2012) 124023.]. The radius of the corresponding NS at M = 1.4 M ⊙ is more than 13 km, while the effect of AI-P on the minimum mass of NS is insignificant. Furthermore, due to the AI-P in the NS, the maximum mass limit of higher than 2.1 M ⊙ cannot rule out the presence of hyperons in the NS core. (author)

  2. Hyperon-mixed neutron stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takatsuka, Tatsuyuki

    2004-01-01

    Hyperon mixing in neutron star matter is investigated by the G-matrix-based effective interaction approach under the attention to use the YN and the YY potentials compatible with hypernuclear data and is shown to occur at densities relevant to neutron star cores, together with discussions to clarify the mechanism of hyperon contamination. It is remarked that developed Y-mixed phase causes a dramatic softening of the neutron star equation of state and leads to the serious problem that the resulting maximum mass M max for neutron star model contradicts the observed neutron star mass (M max obs = 1.44 M Θ ), suggesting the necessity of some extra repulsion'' in hypernuclear system. It is shown that the introduction of three-body repulsion similar to that in nuclear system can resolve the serious situation and under the consistency with observation (M max > M obs ) the threshold densities for Λ and Σ - are pushed to higher density side, from 2ρ 0 to ∼ 4ρ 0 (ρ 0 being the nuclear density). On the basis of a realistic Y-mixed neutron star model, occurrence of Y-superfluidity essential for ''hyperon cooling'' scenario is studied and both of Λ- and Σ - -superfluids are shown to be realized with their critical temperatures 10 8-9 K, meaning that the hyperon cooling'' is a promising candidate for a fast non-standard cooling demanded for some neutron stars with low surface temperature. A comment is given as to the consequence of less attractive ΛΛ interaction suggested by the ''NAGARA event'' ΛΛ 6 He. (author)

  3. Naturalness in an Effective Field Theory for Neutron Star Matter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Razeira, Moises; Vasconcellos, Cesar A.Z.; Bodmann, Bardo E.J.; Coelho, Helio T.; Dillig, Manfred

    2004-01-01

    High density hadronic matter is studied in a generalized relativistic multi-baryon lagrangian density. By comparing the predictions of our model with estimates obtained within a phenomenological naive dimensional analysis based on the naturalness of the coefficients of the theory, we show that naturalness plays a major role in effective field theory and, in combination with experiment, could represent a relevant criterium to select a model among others in the description of global static properties of neutron stars

  4. Relativistic shocks in electron-positron plasmas, and polar cap accretion onto neutron stars: Two non-linear problems in astrophysical plasma physics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Arons, J.

    1988-08-15

    I outline particle simulations and theory of relativistic shock waves in an e/sup +-/ plasma. Magnetic reflection of particles is an essential role in the shock structure. Instability of the reflected particles in the shock front produces intense extraordinary mode radiation. Such shocks are candidates for the particle accelerator in plerions and in extragalactic jets only if the upstream Poynting flux composes no more than 10% of the total. I summarize analytical and numerical studies of radiation dominated accretion onto the magnetic poles of neutron stars. The upper limit to the photon luminosity depends upon magnetic confinement, not upon the dragging of photons into the star. Numerical solutions show the plasma forms large scale ''photon bubbles.'' I suggest the percolative loss of radiation controls the pressure and therefore the limits of magnetic confinement. Loss of magnetic confinement through resistive interchange instability is suggested as a means of generating TeV to PeV voltage drops along the magnetic field. 34 refs., 6 figs., 1 tab.

  5. BLACK HOLE-NEUTRON STAR MERGERS AND SHORT GAMMA-RAY BURSTS: A RELATIVISTIC TOY MODEL TO ESTIMATE THE MASS OF THE TORUS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pannarale, Francesco; Tonita, Aaryn; Rezzolla, Luciano

    2011-01-01

    The merger of a binary system composed of a black hole (BH) and a neutron star (NS) may leave behind a torus of hot, dense matter orbiting around the BH. While numerical-relativity simulations are necessary to simulate this process accurately, they are also computationally expensive and unable at present to cover the large space of possible parameters, which include the relative mass ratio, the stellar compactness, and the BH spin. To mitigate this and provide a first reasonable coverage of the space of parameters, we have developed a method for estimating the mass of the remnant torus from BH-NS mergers. The toy model makes use of an improved relativistic affine model to describe the tidal deformations of an extended tri-axial ellipsoid orbiting around a Kerr BH and measures the mass of the remnant torus by considering which of the fluid particles composing the star are on bound orbits at the time of the tidal disruption. We tune the toy model by using the results of fully general-relativistic simulations obtaining relative precisions of a few percent and use it to investigate the space of parameters extensively. In this way, we find that the torus mass is largest for systems with highly spinning BHs, small stellar compactnesses, and large mass ratios. As an example, tori as massive as M b,tor ≅ 1.33 M sun can be produced for a very extended star with compactness C ≅ 0.1 inspiralling around a BH with dimensionless spin parameter a = 0.85 and mass ratio q ≅ 0.3. However, for a more astrophysically reasonable mass ratio q ≅ 0.14 and a canonical value of the stellar compactness C ≅ 0.145, the toy model sets a considerably smaller upper limit of M b,tor ∼ sun .

  6. Nuclear ``pasta'' structures in low-density nuclear matter and properties of the neutron-star crust

    Science.gov (United States)

    Okamoto, Minoru; Maruyama, Toshiki; Yabana, Kazuhiro; Tatsumi, Toshitaka

    2013-08-01

    In the neutron-star crust, nonuniform structure of nuclear matter—called the “pasta” structure—is expected. From recent studies of giant flares in magnetars, these structures might be related to some observables and physical quantities of the neutron-star crust. To investigate the above quantities, we numerically explore the pasta structure with a fully three-dimensional geometry and study the properties of low-density nuclear matter, based on the relativistic mean-field model and the Thomas-Fermi approximation. We observe typical pasta structures for fixed proton number fraction and two of them for cold catalyzed matter. We also discuss the crystalline configuration of “pasta.”

  7. Coalescence of Black Hole-Neutron Star Binaries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Masaru Shibata

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available We review the current status of general relativistic studies for the coalescence of black hole-neutron star (BH-NS binaries. First, procedures for a solution of BH-NS binaries in quasi-equilibrium circular orbits and the numerical results, such as quasi-equilibrium sequence and mass-shedding limit, of the high-precision computation, are summarized. Then, the current status of numerical-relativity simulations for the merger of BH-NS binaries is described. We summarize our understanding for the merger and/or tidal disruption processes, the criterion for tidal disruption, the properties of the remnant formed after the tidal disruption, gravitational waveform, and gravitational-wave spectrum.

  8. Numerical study of rotating relativistic stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wilson, J.R.

    1975-01-01

    The equations of structure for rotating stars in general relativity are presented and put in a form suitable for computer calculations. The results of equilibrium calculations for supermassive stars, neutron stars, and magnetically supported stars are reported, as are calculations of collapsing, rotating, and magnetized stars in the slowly changing gravitational field approximation. (auth)

  9. Simulations of inspiraling and merging double neutron stars using the Spectral Einstein Code

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haas, Roland; Ott, Christian D.; Szilagyi, Bela; Kaplan, Jeffrey D.; Lippuner, Jonas; Scheel, Mark A.; Barkett, Kevin; Muhlberger, Curran D.; Dietrich, Tim; Duez, Matthew D.; Foucart, Francois; Pfeiffer, Harald P.; Kidder, Lawrence E.; Teukolsky, Saul A.

    2016-06-01

    We present results on the inspiral, merger, and postmerger evolution of a neutron star-neutron star (NSNS) system. Our results are obtained using the hybrid pseudospectral-finite volume Spectral Einstein Code (SpEC). To test our numerical methods, we evolve an equal-mass system for ≈22 orbits before merger. This waveform is the longest waveform obtained from fully general-relativistic simulations for NSNSs to date. Such long (and accurate) numerical waveforms are required to further improve semianalytical models used in gravitational wave data analysis, for example, the effective one body models. We discuss in detail the improvements to SpEC's ability to simulate NSNS mergers, in particular mesh refined grids to better resolve the merger and postmerger phases. We provide a set of consistency checks and compare our results to NSNS merger simulations with the independent bam code. We find agreement between them, which increases confidence in results obtained with either code. This work paves the way for future studies using long waveforms and more complex microphysical descriptions of neutron star matter in SpEC.

  10. Quark Deconfinement in Rotating Neutron Stars

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Richard D. Mellinger

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, we use a three flavor non-local Nambu–Jona-Lasinio (NJL model, an improved effective model of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD at low energies, to investigate the existence of deconfined quarks in the cores of neutron stars. Particular emphasis is put on the possible existence of quark matter in the cores of rotating neutron stars (pulsars. In contrast to non-rotating neutron stars, whose particle compositions do not change with time (are frozen in, the type and structure of the matter in the cores of rotating neutron stars depends on the spin frequencies of these stars, which opens up a possible new window on the nature of matter deep in the cores of neutron stars. Our study shows that, depending on mass and rotational frequency, up to around 8% of the mass of a massive neutron star may be in the mixed quark-hadron phase, if the phase transition is treated as a Gibbs transition. We also find that the gravitational mass at which quark deconfinement occurs in rotating neutron stars varies quadratically with spin frequency, which can be fitted by a simple formula.

  11. Neutron Skins and Neutron Stars

    OpenAIRE

    Piekarewicz, J.

    2013-01-01

    The neutron-skin thickness of heavy nuclei provides a fundamental link to the equation of state of neutron-rich matter, and hence to the properties of neutron stars. The Lead Radius Experiment ("PREX") at Jefferson Laboratory has recently provided the first model-independence evidence on the existence of a neutron-rich skin in 208Pb. In this contribution we examine how the increased accuracy in the determination of neutron skins expected from the commissioning of intense polarized electron be...

  12. The diversity of neutron stars: Nearby thermally emitting neutron stars and the compact central objects in supernova remnants

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaplan, David L.

    Neutron stars are invaluable tools for exploring stellar death, the physics of ultra-dense matter, and the effects of extremely strong magnetic fields. The observed population of neutron stars is dominated by the > 1000 radio pulsars, but there are distinct sub-populations that, while fewer in number, can have significant impact on our understanding of the issues mentioned above. These populations are the nearby isolated neutron stars discovered by ROSAT, and the central compact objects in supernova remnants. The studies of both of these populations have been greatly accelerated in recent years through observations with the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the XMM-Newton telescope. First, we discuss radio, optical, and X-ray observations of the nearby neutron stars aimed at determining their relation to the Galactic neutron star population and at unraveling their complex physical processes by determining the basic astronomical parameters that define the population -- instances, ages, and magnetic fields -- the uncertainties in which limit any attempt to derive basic physical parameters for these objects. We conclude that these sources are 10^6 year-old cooling neutron stars with magnetic fields above 10^13 G. Second, we describe the hollow supernova remnant problem: why many of the supernova remnants in the Galaxy have no indication central neutron stars. We have undertaken an X-ray census of neutron stars in a volume-limited sample of Galactic supernova remnants, and from it conclude that either many supernovae do not produce neutron stars contrary to expectation, or that neutron stars can have a wide range in cooling behavior that makes many sources disappear from the X-ray sky.

  13. Neutron star evolutions using tabulated equations of state with a new execution model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, Matthew; Kaiser, Hartmut; Neilsen, David; Sterling, Thomas

    2012-03-01

    The addition of nuclear and neutrino physics to general relativistic fluid codes allows for a more realistic description of hot nuclear matter in neutron star and black hole systems. This additional microphysics requires that each processor have access to large tables of data, such as equations of state, and in large simulations the memory required to store these tables locally can become excessive unless an alternative execution model is used. In this talk we present neutron star evolution results obtained using a message driven multi-threaded execution model known as ParalleX as an alternative to using a hybrid MPI-OpenMP approach. ParalleX provides the user a new way of computation based on message-driven flow control coordinated by lightweight synchronization elements which improves scalability and simplifies code development. We present the spectrum of radial pulsation frequencies for a neutron star with the Shen equation of state using the ParalleX execution model. We present performance results for an open source, distributed, nonblocking ParalleX-based tabulated equation of state component capable of handling tables that may even be too large to read into the memory of a single node.

  14. Calculation of relativistic model stars using Regge calculus

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Porter, J.

    1987-01-01

    A new approach to the Regge calculus, developed in a previous paper, is used in conjunction with the velocity potential version of relativistic fluid dynamics due to Schutz [1970, Phys. Rev., D, 2, 2762] to calculate relativistic model stars. The results are compared with those obtained when the Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkov equations are solved by other numerical methods. The agreement is found to be excellent. (author)

  15. Hyperon-mixed neutron star matter and neutron stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nishizaki, Shigeru; Takatsuka, Tatsuyuki; Yamamoto, Yasuo

    2002-01-01

    Effective Σ - n and Σ - Σ - interactions are derived from the G-matrix calculations for {n+Σ - } matter and employed in the investigation of hyperon mixing in neutron star matter. The threshold densities ρ t (Y) at which hyperons start to appear are between 2ρ 0 and 3ρ 0 (where ρ 0 is the normal nuclear density) for both Λ and Σ - , and their fractions increase rapidly with baryon density, reaching 10% already for ρ≅ρ t + ρ 0 . The mechanism of hyperon mixing and single-particle properties, such as the effective mass and the potential depth, are analyzed taking into account the roles of YN and NN interactions. The resulting equation of state is found to be too soft to sustain the observed neutron star mass M obs =1.44(solar mass). We discuss the reason for this and stress the necessity of the ''extra repulsion'' for YN and YY interactions to resolve this crucial problem. It is remarked that ρ t (Y) would be as large as 4ρ 0 for neutron stars compatible with M obs . A comment is given regarding the effects on the Y-mixing problem from a less attractive ΛΛ interaction, newly suggested by the NAGARA event. (author)

  16. Compact objects in relativistic theories of gravity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Okada da Silva, Hector

    2017-05-01

    In this dissertation we discuss several aspects of compact objects, i.e. neutron stars and black holes, in relativistic theories of gravity. We start by studying the role of nuclear physics (encoded in the so-called equation of state) in determining the properties of neutron stars in general relativity. We show that low-mass neutron stars are potentially useful astrophysical laboratories that can be used to constrain the properties of the equation of state. More specifically, we show that various bulk properties of these objects, such as their quadrupole moment and tidal deformability, are tightly correlated. Next, we develop a formalism that aims to capture how generic modifications from general relativity affect the structure of neutron stars, as predicted by a broad class of gravity theories, in the spirit of the parametrized post-Newtonian formalism (PPN). Our "post-Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff" formalism provides a toolbox to study both stellar structure and the interior/exterior geometries of static, spherically symmetric relativistic stars. We also apply the formalism to parametrize deviations from general relativity in various astrophysical observables related with neutron stars, including surface redshift, apparent radius, Eddington luminosity. We then turn our attention to what is arguably the most well-motivated and well-investigated generalization of general relativity: scalar-tensor theory. We start by considering theories where gravity is mediated by a single extra scalar degree of freedom (in addition to the metric tensor). An interesting class of scalar-tensor theories passes all experimental tests in the weak-field regime of gravity, yet considerably deviates from general relativity in the strong-field regime in the presence of matter. A common assumption in modeling neutron stars is that the pressure within these object is spatially isotropic. We relax this assumption and examine how pressure anisotropy affects the mass, radius and moment of inertia

  17. Gravitational Effects on Plasma Waves in Environment of Sun and Neutron Star

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lu Quankang; Hsiao-Ling Zhou

    2014-01-01

    Local plasma phenomena in environment of Sun are observed closely by spacecrafts in recent years. We provide a new method to apply general relativity to astro-plasma physics in small local area. The relativistic dispersion relations of Langmuir, electromagnetic and cyclotron waves are obtained. The red shifts of Langmuir and cyclotron frequencies are given analytically. A new equilibrium velocity distribution of particles soaked in local gravitational field is suggested. The gravitational effect of a neutron star is also estimated

  18. Neutron star evolution and emission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Epstein, R. I.; Edwards, B. C.; Haines, T. J.

    1997-01-01

    This is the final report of a three-year, Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The authors investigated the evolution and radiation characteristics of individual neutron stars and stellar systems. The work concentrated on phenomena where new techniques and observations are dramatically enlarging the understanding of stellar phenomena. Part of this project was a study of x-ray and gamma-ray emission from neutron stars and other compact objects. This effort included calculating the thermal x-ray emission from young neutron stars, deriving the radio and gamma-ray emission from active pulsars and modeling intense gamma-ray bursts in distant galaxies. They also measured periodic optical and infrared fluctuations from rotating neutron stars and search for high-energy TeV gamma rays from discrete celestial sources.

  19. The Dark Side of Neutron Stars

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kouvaris, Christoforos

    2013-01-01

    We review severe constraints on asymmetric bosonic dark matter based on observations of old neutron stars. Under certain conditions, dark matter particles in the form of asymmetric bosonic WIMPs can be eectively trapped onto nearby neutron stars, where they can rapidly thermalize and concentrate...... in the core of the star. If some conditions are met, the WIMP population can collapse gravitationally and form a black hole that can eventually destroy the star. Based on the existence of old nearby neutron stars, we can exclude certain classes of dark matter candidates....

  20. Neutron star structure from QCD

    CERN Document Server

    Fraga, Eduardo S; Vuorinen, Aleksi

    2016-01-01

    In this review article, we argue that our current understanding of the thermodynamic properties of cold QCD matter, originating from first principles calculations at high and low densities, can be used to efficiently constrain the macroscopic properties of neutron stars. In particular, we demonstrate that combining state-of-the-art results from Chiral Effective Theory and perturbative QCD with the current bounds on neutron star masses, the Equation of State of neutron star matter can be obtained to an accuracy better than 30% at all densities.

  1. Transition density and pressure in hot neutron stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xu Jun; Chen Liewen; Ko, Che Ming; Li Baoan

    2010-01-01

    Using the momentum-dependent effective interaction (MDI) for nucleons, we have studied the transition density and pressure at the boundary between the inner crust and the liquid core of hot neutron stars. We find that their values are larger in neutrino-trapped neutron stars than in neutrino-free neutron stars. Furthermore, both are found to decrease with increasing temperature of a neutron star as well as increasing slope parameter of the nuclear symmetry energy, except that the transition pressure in neutrino-trapped neutron stars for the case of small symmetry energy slope parameter first increases and then decreases with increasing temperature. We have also studied the effect of the nuclear symmetry energy on the critical temperature above which the inner crust in a hot neutron star disappears and found that with increasing value of the symmetry energy slope parameter, the critical temperature decreases slightly in neutrino-trapped neutron stars but first decreases and then increases in neutrino-free neutron stars.

  2. Theory of neutron star magnetospheres

    CERN Document Server

    Curtis Michel, F

    1990-01-01

    An incomparable reference for astrophysicists studying pulsars and other kinds of neutron stars, "Theory of Neutron Star Magnetospheres" sums up two decades of astrophysical research. It provides in one volume the most important findings to date on this topic, essential to astrophysicists faced with a huge and widely scattered literature. F. Curtis Michel, who was among the first theorists to propose a neutron star model for radio pulsars, analyzes competing models of pulsars, radio emission models, winds and jets from pulsars, pulsating X-ray sources, gamma-ray burst sources, and other neutron-star driven phenomena. Although the book places primary emphasis on theoretical essentials, it also provides a considerable introduction to the observational data and its organization. Michel emphasizes the problems and uncertainties that have arisen in the research as well as the considerable progress that has been made to date.

  3. Cooling of Accretion-Heated Neutron Stars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wijnands, Rudy; Degenaar, Nathalie; Page, Dany

    2017-09-01

    We present a brief, observational review about the study of the cooling behaviour of accretion-heated neutron stars and the inferences about the neutron-star crust and core that have been obtained from these studies. Accretion of matter during outbursts can heat the crust out of thermal equilibrium with the core and after the accretion episodes are over, the crust will cool down until crust-core equilibrium is restored. We discuss the observed properties of the crust cooling sources and what has been learned about the physics of neutron-star crusts. We also briefly discuss those systems that have been observed long after their outbursts were over, i.e, during times when the crust and core are expected to be in thermal equilibrium. The surface temperature is then a direct probe for the core temperature. By comparing the expected temperatures based on estimates of the accretion history of the targets with the observed ones, the physics of neutron-star cores can be investigated. Finally, we discuss similar studies performed for strongly magnetized neutron stars in which the magnetic field might play an important role in the heating and cooling of the neutron stars.

  4. A TEST OF THE NATURE OF THE FE K LINE IN THE NEUTRON STAR LOW-MASS X-RAY BINARY SERPENS X-1

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chiang, Chia-Ying; Cackett, Edward M. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Wayne State University, 666 W. Hancock, Detroit, MI 48202 (United States); Miller, Jon M. [Department of Astronomy, The University of Michigan, 500 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI48109-1046 (United States); Barret, Didier [Universite de Toulouse, UPS-OMP, Toulouse (France); Fabian, Andy C.; Parker, Michael L. [Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA (United Kingdom); D’Aì, Antonino [INAF-Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica Cosmica di Palermo, via U. La Malfa 153, I-90146 Palermo (Italy); Bhattacharyya, Sudip [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai 400005 (India); Burderi, Luciano [Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Cagliari, SP Monserrato-Sestu, KM 0.7, I-09042 Monserrato (Italy); Salvo, Tiziana Di; Iaria, Rosario [Dipartimento di Fisica e Chimica, Universitá di Palermo, via Archirafi 36, I-90123 Palermo (Italy); Egron, Elise [INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico di Cagliari, via della Scienza 5, I-09047 Selargius (Italy); Homan, Jeroen [MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, 77 Massachusetts Avenue 37-582D, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States); Lin, Dacheng [Space Science Center, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824 (United States); Miller, M. Coleman, E-mail: ft8320@wayne.edu [Department of Astronomy and Joint Space-Science Institute, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742-2421 (United States)

    2016-04-20

    Broad Fe K emission lines have been widely observed in the X-ray spectra of black hole systems as well as in neutron star systems. The intrinsically narrow Fe K fluorescent line is generally believed to be part of the reflection spectrum originating in an illuminated accretion disk which is broadened by strong relativistic effects. However, the nature of the lines in neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) has been a matter of debate. We therefore obtained the longest, high-resolution X-ray spectrum of a neutron star LMXB to date with a 300 ks Chandra High Energy Transmission Grating Spectrometer (HETGS) observation of Serpens X-1. The observation was taken under the “continuous clocking” mode, and thus was free of photon pile-up effects. We carry out a systematic analysis and find that the blurred reflection model fits the Fe line of Serpens X-1 significantly better than a broad Gaussian component does, implying that the relativistic reflection scenario is much preferred. Chandra HETGS also provides a highest spectral resolution view of the Fe K region and we find no strong evidence for additional narrow lines.

  5. Neutron stars velocities and magnetic fields

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paret, Daryel Manreza; Martinez, A. Perez; Ayala, Alejandro.; Piccinelli, G.; Sanchez, A.

    2018-01-01

    We study a model that explain neutron stars velocities due to the anisotropic emission of neutrinos. Strong magnetic fields present in neutron stars are the source of the anisotropy in the system. To compute the velocity of the neutron star we model its core as composed by strange quark matter and analice the properties of a magnetized quark gas at finite temperature and density. Specifically we have obtained the electron polarization and the specific heat of magnetized fermions as a functions of the temperature, chemical potential and magnetic field which allow us to study the velocity of the neutron star as a function of these parameters.

  6. A Neutron Star Binary Merger Model for GW170817/GRB 170817A/SSS17a

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Murguia-Berthier, A.; Ramirez-Ruiz, E.; Kilpatrick, C. D.; Foley, R. J.; Coulter, D. A.; Pan, Y.-C.; Prochaska, J. X.; Rojas-Bravo, C.; Siebert, M. R. [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States); Kasen, D. [Nuclear Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Lee, W. H. [Instituto de Astronomía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito Exterior, C.U., A. Postal 70-264, 04510 Cd. de México, México (Mexico); Piro, A. L.; Drout, M. R.; Madore, B. F.; Shappee, B. J.; Simon, J. D. [The Observatories of the Carnegie Institution for Science, 813 Santa Barbara Street, Pasadena, CA 91101 (United States); Rest, A. [Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States)

    2017-10-20

    The merging neutron star gravitational-wave event GW170817 has been observed throughout the entire electromagnetic spectrum from radio waves to γ -rays. The resulting energetics, variability, and light curves are shown to be consistent with GW170817 originating from the merger of two neutron stars, in all likelihood followed by the prompt gravitational collapse of the massive remnant. The available γ -ray, X-ray, and radio data provide a clear probe for the nature of the relativistic ejecta and the non-thermal processes occurring within, while the ultraviolet, optical, and infrared emission are shown to probe material torn during the merger and subsequently heated by the decay of freshly synthesized r -process material. The simplest hypothesis, that the non-thermal emission is due to a low-luminosity short γ -ray burst (sGRB), seems to agree with the present data. While low-luminosity sGRBs might be common, we show here that the collective prompt and multi-wavelength observations are also consistent with a typical, powerful sGRB seen off-axis. Detailed follow-up observations are thus essential before we can place stringent constraints on the nature of the relativistic ejecta in GW170817.

  7. The Binary Neutron Star Event LIGO/Virgo GW170817 160 Days after Merger: Synchrotron Emission across the Electromagnetic Spectrum

    Science.gov (United States)

    Margutti, R.; Alexander, K. D.; Xie, X.; Sironi, L.; Metzger, B. D.; Kathirgamaraju, A.; Fong, W.; Blanchard, P. K.; Berger, E.; MacFadyen, A.; Giannios, D.; Guidorzi, C.; Hajela, A.; Chornock, R.; Cowperthwaite, P. S.; Eftekhari, T.; Nicholl, M.; Villar, V. A.; Williams, P. K. G.; Zrake, J.

    2018-03-01

    We report deep Chandra X-ray Observatory (CXO), Hubble Space Telescope (HST), and Karl J. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) observations of the binary neutron star event GW170817 at t spectrum extending for eight orders of magnitude in frequency enables the most precise measurement of the index p of the distribution of non-thermal relativistic electrons N(γ )\\propto {γ }-p accelerated by a shock launched by a neutron star (NS)–NS merger to date. We find p = 2.17 ± 0.01, which indicates that radiation from ejecta with Γ ∼ 3–10 dominates the observed emission. While constraining the nature of the emission process, these observations do not constrain the nature of the relativistic ejecta. We employ simulations of explosive outflows launched in NS ejecta clouds to show that the spectral and temporal evolution of the non-thermal emission from GW170817 is consistent with both emission from radially stratified quasi-spherical ejecta traveling at mildly relativistic speeds, and emission from off-axis collimated ejecta characterized by a narrow cone of ultra-relativistic material with slower wings extending to larger angles. In the latter scenario, GW170817 harbored a normal short gamma-ray burst (SGRB) directed away from our line of sight. Observations at t ≤ 200 days are unlikely to settle the debate, as in both scenarios the observed emission is effectively dominated by radiation from mildly relativistic material.

  8. Evolution of Neutron Stars and Observational Constraints

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lattimer J.

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available The structure and evolution of neutron stars is discussed with a view towards constraining the properties of high density matter through observations. The structure of neutron stars is illuminated through the use of several analytical solutions of Einstein’s equations which, together with the maximally compact equation of state, establish extreme limits for neutron stars and approximations for binding energies, moments of inertia and crustal properties as a function of compactness. The role of the nuclear symmetry energy is highlighted and constraints from laboratory experiments such as nuclear masses and heavy ion collisions are presented. Observed neutron star masses and radius limits from several techniques, such as thermal emissions, X-ray bursts, gammaray flares, pulsar spins and glitches, spin-orbit coupling in binary pulsars, and neutron star cooling, are discussed. The lectures conclude with a discusson of proto-neutron stars and their neutrino signatures.

  9. Gravitational waves from neutron stars and asteroseismology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ho, Wynn C. G.

    2018-05-01

    Neutron stars are born in the supernova explosion of massive stars. Neutron stars rotate as stably as atomic clocks and possess densities exceeding that of atomic nuclei and magnetic fields millions to billions of times stronger than those created in laboratories on the Earth. The physical properties of neutron stars are determined by many areas of fundamental physics, and detection of gravitational waves can provide invaluable insights into our understanding of these areas. Here, we describe some of the physics and astrophysics of neutron stars and how traditional electromagnetic wave observations provide clues to the sorts of gravitational waves we expect from these stars. We pay particular attention to neutron star fluid oscillations, examining their impact on electromagnetic and gravitational wave observations when these stars are in a wide binary or isolated system, then during binary inspiral right before merger, and finally at times soon after merger. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue `The promises of gravitational-wave astronomy'.

  10. Gravitational waves from neutron stars and asteroseismology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ho, Wynn C G

    2018-05-28

    Neutron stars are born in the supernova explosion of massive stars. Neutron stars rotate as stably as atomic clocks and possess densities exceeding that of atomic nuclei and magnetic fields millions to billions of times stronger than those created in laboratories on the Earth. The physical properties of neutron stars are determined by many areas of fundamental physics, and detection of gravitational waves can provide invaluable insights into our understanding of these areas. Here, we describe some of the physics and astrophysics of neutron stars and how traditional electromagnetic wave observations provide clues to the sorts of gravitational waves we expect from these stars. We pay particular attention to neutron star fluid oscillations, examining their impact on electromagnetic and gravitational wave observations when these stars are in a wide binary or isolated system, then during binary inspiral right before merger, and finally at times soon after merger.This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'The promises of gravitational-wave astronomy'. © 2018 The Author(s).

  11. KAON CONDENSATION IN NEUTRON STARS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    RAMOS, A.; SCHAFFNER-BIELICH, J.; WAMBACH, J.

    2001-01-01

    We discuss the kaon-nucleon interaction and its consequences for the change of the properties of the kaon in the medium. The onset of kaon condensation in neutron stars under various scenarios as well its effects for neutron star properties are reviewed

  12. Delta isobars in neutron stars

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pagliara Giuseppe

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The appearance of delta isobars in beta-stable matter is regulated by the behavior of the symmetry energy at densities larger than saturation density. We show that by taking into account recent constraints on the density derivative of the symmetry energy and the theoretical and experimental results on the excitations of delta isobars in nuclei, delta isobars are necessary ingredients for the equations of state used for studying neutron stars. We analyze the effect of the appearance of deltas on the structure of neutron stars: as in the case of hyperons, matter containing delta is too soft for allowing the existence of 2M⊙ neutron stars. Quark stars on the other hand, could reach very massive configurations and they could form from a process of conversion of hadronic stars in which an initial seed of strangeness appears through hyperons.

  13. Excitation of neutron star oscillations by an orbiting mass

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ruoff, J.

    2001-01-01

    In this contribution, I present results from a numerical study of the even-parity gravitational radiation generated from a particle orbiting a neutron star. The investigation is focused on those conditions on the orbital parameters that favor the excitation of w-modes. It is found that, for astrophysically realistic conditions, there is practically no w-mode contribution to the emitted radiation. Only for particles with ultra-relativistic orbital speeds ≥ 0.9c, the w-mode does significantly contribute to the total emitted gravitational energy. To obtain reliable results, a way is presented to construct consistent initial data which contain as little as possible initial radiation. (author)

  14. A weight limit emerges for neutron stars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cho, Adrian

    2018-02-01

    Astrophysicists have long wondered how massive a neutron star—the corpse of certain exploding stars—could be without collapsing under its own gravity to form a black hole. Now, four teams have independently deduced a mass limit for neutron stars of about 2.2 times the mass of the sun. To do so, all four groups analyzed last year's blockbuster observations of the merger of two neutron stars, spied on 17 September 2017 by dozens of observatories. That approach may seem unpromising, as it might appear that the merging neutron stars would have immediately produced a black hole. However, the researchers argue that the merger first produced a spinning, overweight neutron star momentarily propped up by centrifugal force. They deduce that just before it collapsed, the short-lived neutron star had to be near the maximum mass for one spinning as a solid body. That inference allowed them to use a scaling relationship to estimate the maximum mass of a nonrotating, stable neutron star, starting from the total mass of the original pair and the amount of matter spewed into space.

  15. The Mystery of the Lonely Neutron Star

    Science.gov (United States)

    2000-09-01

    .5-3754 was first aimed at taking optical spectra, in order to study its structure. The astronomers hoped to find in its spectrum some "signatures", i.e., emission or absorption lines and/or bands, that might provide information about the physical conditions on its surface. While the chances for this were admittedly rather slim, a detection of such spectral features would be a real break-through in the study of neutron stars. If present in the spectrum, they could for instance be used to measure directly the immense strength of the gravitational field on the surface, expected to be about 10 12 times stronger than that on the surface of the Earth. Moreover, it might be possible to determine the gravitational redshift , a relativistic effect whereby the light quanta (photons) that are emitted from the surface lose about 20% of their energy as they escape from the neutron star. Their wavelength is consequently red-shifted by that amount. The spectral observations were difficult, first of all because of the extreme faintness of RX J1856.5-3754 . But even though an excellent spectrum was obtained with the multi-mode FORS1 instrument at VLT ANTU, it was indeed quite featureless and no spectral features were seen. Surprises from RX J1856.5-3754 Nevertheless, as it often happens in astronomy, these observations did bring surprises. The first was that the neutron star had obviously moved on the sky since the HST had observed it in 1997. From positional measurements and the assumed distance, approx. 200 light-years, RX J1856.5-3754 was found to be moving with a velocity of about 100 km/s [4]. However, at such a high speed, it is hard to imagine how it would be able to catch much interstellar matter, whose infall might heat the surface as described above. The puzzle was deepening! Another surprise was that the spectra showed very faint emission from the neighbourhood of the neutron star. The measured wavelengths identified these emission lines as H-alpha and H-beta , two of the so

  16. Neutron star pulsations and instabilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lindblom, L.

    2001-01-01

    Gravitational radiation (GR) drives an instability in certain modes of rotating stars. This instability is strong enough in the case of the r-modes to cause their amplitudes to grow on a timescale of tens of seconds in rapidly rotating neutron stars. GR emitted by these modes removes angular momentum from the star at a rate which would spin it down to a relatively small angular velocity within about one year, if the dimensionless amplitude of the mode grows to order unity. A pedagogical level discussion is given here on the mechanism of GR instability in rotating stars, on the relevant properties of the r-modes, and on our present understanding of the dissipation mechanisms that tend to suppress this instability in neutron stars. The astrophysical implications of this GR driven instability are discussed for young neutron stars, and for older systems such as low mass x-ray binaries. Recent work on the non-linear evolution of the r-modes is also presented. (author)

  17. Non-adiabatic radiative collapse of a relativistic star under different ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    ditions. The collapse of a star filled with a homogeneous perfect fluid is compared with that of a star filled with ... We have examined the collapse of a relativistic star with matter density and fluid pressure decreasing ..... are invoked to extract information about the change in the equation of state of the interior matter of a ...

  18. Neutron Star Physics and EOS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lattimer James M.

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Neutron stars are important because measurement of their masses and radii will determine the dense matter equation of state. They will constrain the nuclear matter symmetry energy, which controls the neutron star matter pressure and the interior composition, and will influence the interpretation of nuclear experiments. Astrophysical observations include pulsar timing, X-ray bursts, quiescent low-mass X-ray binaries, pulse profiles from millisecond pulsars, neutrino observations from gravitational collapse supernovae,and gravitational radiation from compact object mergers. These observations will also constrain the neutron star interior, including the properties of superfluidity there, and determine the existence of a possible QCD phase transition.

  19. BPS Skyrmions as neutron stars

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Adam, C., E-mail: adam@fpaxp1.usc.es [Departamento de Física de Partículas, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela and Instituto Galego de Física de Altas Enerxias (IGFAE), E-15782 Santiago de Compostela (Spain); Naya, C.; Sanchez-Guillen, J.; Vazquez, R. [Departamento de Física de Partículas, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela and Instituto Galego de Física de Altas Enerxias (IGFAE), E-15782 Santiago de Compostela (Spain); Wereszczynski, A. [Institute of Physics, Jagiellonian University, Reymonta 4, Kraków (Poland)

    2015-03-06

    The BPS Skyrme model has been demonstrated already to provide a physically intriguing and quantitatively reliable description of nuclear matter. Indeed, the model has both the symmetries and the energy–momentum tensor of a perfect fluid, and thus represents a field theoretic realization of the “liquid droplet” model of nuclear matter. In addition, the classical soliton solutions together with some obvious corrections (spin–isospin quantization, Coulomb energy, proton-neutron mass difference) provide an accurate modeling of nuclear binding energies for heavier nuclei. These results lead to the rather natural proposal to try to describe also neutron stars by the BPS Skyrme model coupled to gravity. We find that the resulting self-gravitating BPS Skyrmions provide excellent results as well as some new perspectives for the description of bulk properties of neutron stars when the parameter values of the model are extracted from nuclear physics. Specifically, the maximum possible mass of a neutron star before black-hole formation sets in is a few solar masses, the precise value of which depends on the precise values of the model parameters, and the resulting neutron star radius is of the order of 10 km.

  20. CARBON NEUTRON STAR ATMOSPHERES

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Suleimanov, V. F.; Klochkov, D.; Werner, K.; Pavlov, G. G.

    2014-01-01

    The accuracy of measuring the basic parameters of neutron stars is limited in particular by uncertainties in the chemical composition of their atmospheres. For example, the atmospheres of thermally emitting neutron stars in supernova remnants might have exotic chemical compositions, and for one of them, the neutron star in Cas A, a pure carbon atmosphere has recently been suggested by Ho and Heinke. To test this composition for other similar sources, a publicly available detailed grid of the carbon model atmosphere spectra is needed. We have computed this grid using the standard local thermodynamic equilibrium approximation and assuming that the magnetic field does not exceed 10 8  G. The opacities and pressure ionization effects are calculated using the Opacity Project approach. We describe the properties of our models and investigate the impact of the adopted assumptions and approximations on the emergent spectra

  1. Neutron stars. [quantum mechanical processes associated with magnetic fields

    Science.gov (United States)

    Canuto, V.

    1978-01-01

    Quantum-mechanical processes associated with the presence of high magnetic fields and the effect of such fields on the evolution of neutron stars are reviewed. A technical description of the interior of a neutron star is presented. The neutron star-pulsar relation is reviewed and consideration is given to supernovae explosions, flux conservation in neutron stars, gauge-invariant derivation of the equation of state for a strongly magnetized gas, neutron beta-decay, and the stability condition for a neutron star.

  2. Relativistic charged Bose gas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hines, D.F.; Frankel, N.E.

    1979-01-01

    The charged Bose has been previously studied as a many body problem of great intrinsic interest which can also serve as a model of some real physical systems, for example, superconductors, white dwarf stars and neutron stars. In this article the excitation spectrum of a relativistic spin-zero charged Bose gas is obtained in a dielectric response formulation. Relativity introduces a dip in the spectrum and consequences of this dip for the thermodynamic functions are discussed

  3. Lightweight Double Neutron Star Found

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kohler, Susanna

    2018-02-01

    More than forty years after the first discovery of a double neutron star, we still havent found many others but a new survey is working to change that.The Hunt for PairsThe observed shift in the Hulse-Taylor binarys orbital period over time as it loses energy to gravitational-wave emission. [Weisberg Taylor, 2004]In 1974, Russell Hulse and Joseph Taylor discovered the first double neutron star: two compact objects locked in a close orbit about each other. Hulse and Taylors measurements of this binarys decaying orbit over subsequent years led to a Nobel prize and the first clear evidence of gravitational waves carrying energy and angular momentum away from massive binaries.Forty years later, we have since confirmed the existence of gravitational waves directly with the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO). Nonetheless, finding and studying pre-merger neutron-star binaries remains a top priority. Observing such systems before they merge reveals crucial information about late-stage stellar evolution, binary interactions, and the types of gravitational-wave signals we expect to find with current and future observatories.Since the Hulse-Taylor binary, weve found a total of 16 additional double neutron-star systems which represents only a tiny fraction of the more than 2,600 pulsars currently known. Recently, however, a large number of pulsar surveys are turning their eyes toward the sky, with a focus on finding more double neutron stars and at least one of them has had success.The pulse profile for PSR J1411+2551 at 327 MHz. [Martinez et al. 2017]A Low-Mass DoubleConducted with the 1,000-foot Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico, the Arecibo 327 MHz Drift Pulsar Survey has enabled the recent discovery of dozens of pulsars and transients. Among them, as reported by Jose Martinez (Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy) and coauthors in a recent publication, is PSR J1411+2551: a new double neutron star with one of the lowest masses ever measured

  4. Consequences of Relativistic Neutron Outflow beyond the Accretion Disks of Active Galaxies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ekejiuba, I. E.; Okeke, P. N.

    1993-05-01

    Three channels of relativistic electron injection in the jets of extragalactic radio sources (EGRSs) are discussed. With the assumption that an active galactic nucleus (AGN) is powered by a spinning supermassive black hole of mass ~ 10(8) M_⊙ which sits at the center of the nucleus and ingests matter and energy through an accretion disk, a model for extracting relativistic neutrons from the AGN is forged. In this model, the inelastic proton--proton and proton--photon interactions within the accretion disk, of relativistic protons with background thermal protons and photons, respectively, produce copious amounts of relativistic neutrons. These neutrons travel ballistically for ~ 10(3gamma_n ) seconds and escape from the disk before they decay. The secondary particles produced from the neutron decays then interact with the ambient magnetic field and/or other particles to produce the radio emissions observed in the jets of EGRSs. IEE acknowledges the support of the World Bank and the Federal University of Technology, Yola, Nigeria as well as the hospitality of Georgia State University.

  5. Charged ρ Meson Condensate in Neutron Stars within RMF Models

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Konstantin A. Maslov

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Knowledge of the equation of state (EoS of cold and dense baryonic matter is essential for the description of properties of neutron stars (NSs. With an increase of the density, new baryon species can appear in NS matter, as well as various meson condensates. In previous works, we developed relativistic mean-field (RMF models with hyperons and Δ -isobars, which passed the majority of known experimental constraints, including the existence of a 2 M ⊙ neutron star. In this contribution, we present results of the inclusion of ρ − -meson condensation into these models. We have shown that, in one class of the models (so-called KVOR-based models, in which the additional stiffening procedure is introduced in the isoscalar sector, the condensation gives only a small contribution to the EoS. In another class of the models (MKVOR-based models with additional stiffening in isovector sector, the condensation can lead to a first-order phase transition and a substantial decrease of the NS mass. Nevertheless, in all resulting models, the condensation does not spoil the description of the experimental constraints.

  6. Transport coefficients in superfluid neutron stars

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tolos, Laura [Instituto de Ciencias del Espacio (IEEC/CSIC) Campus Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Facultat de Ciències, Torre C5, E-08193 Bellaterra (Barcelona) (Spain); Frankfurt Institute for Advances Studies. Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Ruth-Moufang-Str. 1, 60438 Frankfurt am Main (Germany); Manuel, Cristina [Instituto de Ciencias del Espacio (IEEC/CSIC) Campus Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Facultat de Ciències, Torre C5, E-08193 Bellaterra (Barcelona) (Spain); Sarkar, Sreemoyee [Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Homi Bhaba Road, Mumbai-400005 (India); Tarrus, Jaume [Physik Department, Technische Universität München, D-85748 Garching (Germany)

    2016-01-22

    We study the shear and bulk viscosity coefficients as well as the thermal conductivity as arising from the collisions among phonons in superfluid neutron stars. We use effective field theory techniques to extract the allowed phonon collisional processes, written as a function of the equation of state and the gap of the system. The shear viscosity due to phonon scattering is compared to calculations of that coming from electron collisions. We also comment on the possible consequences for r-mode damping in superfluid neutron stars. Moreover, we find that phonon collisions give the leading contribution to the bulk viscosities in the core of the neutron stars. We finally obtain a temperature-independent thermal conductivity from phonon collisions and compare it with the electron-muon thermal conductivity in superfluid neutron stars.

  7. Neutron stars, magnetic fields, and gravitational waves

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lamb, F.K.

    2001-01-01

    The r-modes of rapidly spinning young neutron stars have recently attracted attention as a promising source of detectable gravitational radiation. These neutron stars are expected to have magnetic fields ∼ 10 12 G. The r-mode velocity perturbation causes differential motion of the fluid in the star; this is a kinematic effect. In addition, the radiation-reaction associated with emission of gravitational radiation by r-waves drives additional differential fluid motions; this is a dynamic effect. These differential fluid motions distort the magnetic fields of neutron stars and may therefore play an important role in determining the structure of neutron star magnetic fields. If the stellar field is ∼ 10 16 (Ω/Ω B ) G or stronger, the usual r-modes are no longer normal modes of the star; here Ω and Ω B are the angular velocities of the star and at which mass shedding occurs. Much weaker magnetic fields can prevent gravitational radiation from amplifying the r-modes or damp existing r-mode oscillations on a relatively short timescale by extracting energy from the modes faster than gravitational wave emission can pump energy into them. The onset of proton superconductivity in the cores of newly formed magnetic neutron stars typically increases the effect on the r-modes of the magnetic field in the core by many orders of magnitude. Once the core has become superconducting, magnetic fields of the order of 10 12 G or greater are usually sufficient to damp r-modes that have been excited by emission of gravitational radiation and to suppress any further emission. A rapid drop in the strength of r-mode gravitational radiation from young neutron stars may therefore signal the onset of superconductivity in the core and provide a lower bound on the strength of the magnetic field there. Hence, measurements of r-mode gravitational waves from newly formed neutron stars may provide valuable diagnostic information about magnetic field strengths, cooling processes, and the

  8. Dark Kinetic Heating of Neutron Stars and an Infrared Window on WIMPs, SIMPs, and Pure Higgsinos.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baryakhtar, Masha; Bramante, Joseph; Li, Shirley Weishi; Linden, Tim; Raj, Nirmal

    2017-09-29

    We identify a largely model-independent signature of dark matter (DM) interactions with nucleons and electrons. DM in the local galactic halo, gravitationally accelerated to over half the speed of light, scatters against and deposits kinetic energy into neutron stars, heating them to infrared blackbody temperatures. The resulting radiation could potentially be detected by the James Webb Space Telescope, the Thirty Meter Telescope, or the European Extremely Large Telescope. This mechanism also produces optical emission from neutron stars in the galactic bulge, and x-ray emission near the galactic center because dark matter is denser in these regions. For GeV-PeV mass dark matter, dark kinetic heating would initially unmask any spin-independent or spin-dependent dark matter-nucleon cross sections exceeding 2×10^{-45}  cm^{2}, with improved sensitivity after more telescope exposure. For lighter-than-GeV dark matter, cross-section sensitivity scales inversely with dark matter mass because of Pauli blocking; for heavier-than-PeV dark matter, it scales linearly with mass as a result of needing multiple scatters for capture. Future observations of dark sector-warmed neutron stars could determine whether dark matter annihilates in or only kinetically heats neutron stars. Because inelastic interstate transitions of up to a few GeV would occur in relativistic scattering against nucleons, elusive inelastic dark matter like pure Higgsinos can also be discovered.

  9. Gravitational Waves from F-modes Excited by the Inspiral of Highly Eccentric Neutron Star Binaries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chirenti, Cecilia; Gold, Roman; Miller, M. Coleman

    2017-01-01

    As gravitational wave instrumentation becomes more sensitive, it is interesting to speculate about subtle effects that could be analyzed using upcoming generations of detectors. One such effect that has great potential for revealing the properties of very dense matter is fluid oscillations of neutron stars. These have been found in numerical simulations of the hypermassive remnants of double neutron star mergers and of highly eccentric neutron star orbits. Here we focus on the latter and sketch out some ideas for the production, gravitational-wave detection, and analysis of neutron star oscillations. These events will be rare (perhaps up to several tens per year could be detected using third-generation detectors such as the Einstein Telescope or the Cosmic Explorer), but they would have unique diagnostic power for the analysis of cold, catalyzed, dense matter. Furthermore, these systems are unusual in that analysis of the tidally excited f-modes of the stars could yield simultaneous measurements of their masses, moments of inertia, and tidal Love numbers, using the frequency, damping time, and amplitude of the modes. They would thus present a nearly unique opportunity to test the I-Love-Q relation observationally. The analysis of such events will require significant further work in nuclear physics and general relativistic nonlinear mode coupling, and thus we discuss further directions that will need to be pursued. For example, we note that for nearly grazing encounters, numerical simulations show that the energy delivered to the f-modes may be up to two orders of magnitude greater than predicted in the linear theory.

  10. Gravitational Waves from F-modes Excited by the Inspiral of Highly Eccentric Neutron Star Binaries

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chirenti, Cecilia [Centro de Matemática, Computação e Cognição, UFABC, 09210-170 Santo André-SP (Brazil); Gold, Roman [Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, 31 Caroline Street North, Waterloo, ON N2L 2Y5 (Canada); Miller, M. Coleman [Department of Astronomy and Joint Space-Science Institute, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742-2421 (United States)

    2017-03-01

    As gravitational wave instrumentation becomes more sensitive, it is interesting to speculate about subtle effects that could be analyzed using upcoming generations of detectors. One such effect that has great potential for revealing the properties of very dense matter is fluid oscillations of neutron stars. These have been found in numerical simulations of the hypermassive remnants of double neutron star mergers and of highly eccentric neutron star orbits. Here we focus on the latter and sketch out some ideas for the production, gravitational-wave detection, and analysis of neutron star oscillations. These events will be rare (perhaps up to several tens per year could be detected using third-generation detectors such as the Einstein Telescope or the Cosmic Explorer), but they would have unique diagnostic power for the analysis of cold, catalyzed, dense matter. Furthermore, these systems are unusual in that analysis of the tidally excited f-modes of the stars could yield simultaneous measurements of their masses, moments of inertia, and tidal Love numbers, using the frequency, damping time, and amplitude of the modes. They would thus present a nearly unique opportunity to test the I-Love-Q relation observationally. The analysis of such events will require significant further work in nuclear physics and general relativistic nonlinear mode coupling, and thus we discuss further directions that will need to be pursued. For example, we note that for nearly grazing encounters, numerical simulations show that the energy delivered to the f-modes may be up to two orders of magnitude greater than predicted in the linear theory.

  11. Gravitational waves from freely precessing neutron stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jones, D.I.

    2001-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to assess the likely detectability of gravitational waves from freely precessing neutron stars. We begin by presenting a neutron star model of sufficient complexity to take into account both the elasticity and fluidity of a realistic neutron star. We then examine the effect of internal dissipation (i.e. heat generation within the star) and gravitational radiation reaction on the wobble. This is followed by an examination of various astrophysical scenarios where some mechanism might pump the precessional motion. We estimate the gravitational wave amplitude in these situations. Finally, we conclude that gravitational radiation from freely precessing neutron stars is almost certainly limited to a level undetectable by a LIGO II detector by internal dissipation. (author)

  12. X-rays from neutron stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boerner, G.

    1979-08-01

    The basic theoretical in the models of regularly pulsating X-ray sources are discussed, and put in relation to the observations. The topics covered include physics of the magnetosphere of an accreting neutron star, hydrodynamics of the accretion column, physical processes close to the surface of the neutron star such as proton-electron collisions, photon-electron interactions. (orig.)

  13. Neutron stars: Observational diversity and evolution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Safi-Harb, S.

    2017-12-01

    Ever since the discovery of the Crab and Vela pulsars in their respective Supernova Remnants, our understanding of how neutron stars manifest themselves observationally has been dramatically shaped by the surge of discoveries and dedicated studies across the electromagnetic spectrum, particularly in the high-energy band. The growing diversity of neutron stars includes the highly magnetized neutron stars (magnetars) and the Central Compact Objects shining in X-rays and mostly lacking pulsar wind nebulae. These two subclasses of high-energy objects, however, seem to be characterized by anomalously high or anomalously low surface magnetic fields (thus dubbed as ‘magnetars’ and ‘anti-magnetars’, respectively), and have pulsar characteristic ages that are often much offset from their associated SNRs’ ages. In addition, some neutron stars act ‘schizophrenic’ in that they occasionally display properties that seem common to more than one of the defined subclasses. I review the growing diversity of neutron stars from an observational perspective, then highlight recent and on-going theoretical and observational work attempting to address this diversity, particularly in light of their magnetic field evolution, energy loss mechanisms, and supernova progenitors’ studies.

  14. Neutron star structure: Theory, observation, and speculation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pandharipande, V.R.; Pines, D.; Smith, R.A.

    1976-01-01

    The broad physical aspects of the neutron-neutron interaction in dense matter are reviewed, and an examination is made of the extent to which the equation of state of neutron star matter is influenced by phase transitions which have been proposed for the high-density regime. The dependence of the maximum neutron star mass and the stellar structure on the neutron-neutron interaction is studied through calculations of the equation of state of neutron matter based on four different models for this interaction: the Reid (R) and Bethe-Johnson (BJ) models, a tensor-interaction (TI) model which assumes that the attraction between nucleons comes from the higher order contribution of the pion-exchange tensor interaction, and a mean field (MF) model which assumes that all the attraction between nucleons is due to the exchange of an effective scalar meson. It is shown that the harder equations of state which result from the BJ, TI, and MF models give rise to significant modifications in the structure of neutron stars; heavy neutron stars (approximately-greater-than1 M/sub sun/) have both larger radii and thicker crusts than were predicted using the R model.These stars are used as a basis for comparing theory with observation for the mass and structure of neutron stars such as the Crab and Vela pulsars, and the compact X-ray sources Her X-1 and Vela X-1. We find that both theory and observation tend to favor an equation of state that is stiff in the region of 10 14 --10 15 g cm -3 and that a neutron star such as Her X-1 (Mapprox.1.3 M/sub sun/) has a radius of the order of 15 km with a crust thickness of order 5 km. Based on starquake theory, it is concluded that the Crab pulsar could have a mass as large as 1.3 M/sub sun/, with a critical strain angle approx.10 -3 , comparable to that suggested for Her X-1. The possibility of solid-core neutron stars and some of their observational consequences is discussed

  15. Physics of Neutron Star Crusts

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chamel Nicolas

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available The physics of neutron star crusts is vast, involving many different research fields, from nuclear and condensed matter physics to general relativity. This review summarizes the progress, which has been achieved over the last few years, in modeling neutron star crusts, both at the microscopic and macroscopic levels. The confrontation of these theoretical models with observations is also briefly discussed.

  16. The Properties of Short Gamma-Ray Burst Jets Triggered by Neutron Star Mergers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Murguia-Berthier, Ariadna; Ramirez-Ruiz, Enrico; Montes, Gabriela [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States); De Colle, Fabio [Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, A. P. 70-543 04510 D. F. (Mexico); Rezzolla, Luciano; Takami, Kentaro [Institute for Theoretical Physics, Goethe University, Max-von-Laue-Str. 1, D-60438 Frankfurt am Main (Germany); Rosswog, Stephan [Astronomy and Oskar Klein Centre, Stockholm University, AlbaNova, SE-106 91 Stockholm (Sweden); Perego, Albino [Institut für Kernphysik, Technische Universität Darmstadt, D-64289 Darmstadt (Germany); Lee, William H. [Instituto de Astronomía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, A. P. 70-264 04510 D. F. (Mexico)

    2017-02-01

    The most popular model for short gamma-ray bursts (sGRBs) involves the coalescence of binary neutron stars. Because the progenitor is actually hidden from view, we must consider under which circumstances such merging systems are capable of producing a successful sGRB. Soon after coalescence, winds are launched from the merger remnant. In this paper, we use realistic wind profiles derived from global merger simulations in order to investigate the interaction of sGRB jets with these winds using numerical simulations. We analyze the conditions for which these axisymmetric winds permit relativistic jets to break out and produce an sGRB. We find that jets with luminosities comparable to those observed in sGRBs are only successful when their half-opening angles are below ≈20°. This jet collimation mechanism leads to a simple physical interpretation of the luminosities and opening angles inferred for sGRBs. If wide, low-luminosity jets are observed, they might be indicative of a different progenitor avenue such as the merger of a neutron star with a black hole. We also use the observed durations of sGRB to place constraints on the lifetime of the wind phase, which is determined by the time it takes the jet to break out. In all cases we find that the derived limits argue against completely stable remnants for binary neutron star mergers that produce sGRBs.

  17. The Role of Isospin Components of the Scalar σ-Meson in the Structure of Neutron Stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vasconcellos, Cesan A.Z.; Luetz, Eduardo; Razeira, Moises; Bodmann, Bardo E. J.; Dillig, Manfred

    2004-01-01

    Based on non-crossed, crossed and correlated ππ exchanges with irreducible N,Δ intermediate states, we predict an isovector component for the δ meson. We study dense hadronic matter in a generalized relativistic mean field approach with nonlinear self-couplings of the I = 0, 1 components of the scalar field and compare its predictions for neutron star properties with results from different models found in the literature

  18. Heavy ion collisions with A = 1057: Aspects of nuclear stability and the nuclear equation of state in coalescing neutron-star binary systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mathews, G.J.; Wilson, J.R.; Evans, C.R.; Detweiler, S.L.

    1987-12-01

    The dynamics of the final stages of the coalescence of two neturon stars (such as the binary pulsar PSR 1913+16) is an unsolved problem in astrophysics. Such systems are probably efficient generators of gravitational radiation, and may be significant contributors to heavy-element nucleosynthesis. The input physics for the study of such systems is similar to that required for the strudy of heavy-ion collision hydrodynamics; e.g., a finite temperature nuclear equation of state, properties of nuclei away from stability, etc. We discuss the development of a relativistic hydrodynamics code in three spatial dimensions for the purpose of studying such neutron-star systems. The properties of the mass-radius relation (determined by the nuclear equation of state) may lead to a proposed mechanism by which hot, highly neutronized matter is ejected from the coalescing stars. This material is photodisintegrated into a free (mostly) neutron gas which may subsequently experience rapid-neutron capture (r-process) nucleosynthesis. 15 refs., 4 figs

  19. Magnetohydrodynamics of neutron star interiors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Easson, I.; Pethick, C.J.

    1979-01-01

    Magnetohydrodynamic equations for the charged particles in the fluid interior of a neutron star are derived from the Landau-Boltzmann kinetic equations. It is assumed that the protons are normal and the neutrons are superfluid. The dissipative processes associated with the weak interactions are shown to be negligible except in very hot neutron stars; we neglect them here. Among the topics discussed are: the influence of the neutron-proton nuclear force (Fermi liquid corrections) on the magnetohydrodynamics; the effects of the magnetic field on the pressure, viscosity, and heat conductivity tensors; the plasma equation of state; and the form of the generalized Ohm's law

  20. Neutron Skins and Neutron Stars in the Multimessenger Era

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fattoyev, F. J.; Piekarewicz, J.; Horowitz, C. J.

    2018-04-01

    The historical first detection of a binary neutron star merger by the LIGO-Virgo Collaboration [B. P. Abbott et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 161101 (2017), 10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.161101] is providing fundamental new insights into the astrophysical site for the r process and on the nature of dense matter. A set of realistic models of the equation of state (EOS) that yield an accurate description of the properties of finite nuclei, support neutron stars of two solar masses, and provide a Lorentz covariant extrapolation to dense matter are used to confront its predictions against tidal polarizabilities extracted from the gravitational-wave data. Given the sensitivity of the gravitational-wave signal to the underlying EOS, limits on the tidal polarizability inferred from the observation translate into constraints on the neutron-star radius. Based on these constraints, models that predict a stiff symmetry energy, and thus large stellar radii, can be ruled out. Indeed, we deduce an upper limit on the radius of a 1.4 M⊙ neutron star of R⋆1.4Pb 208 to the symmetry energy, albeit at a lower density, we infer a corresponding upper limit of about Rskin208≲0.25 fm . However, if the upcoming PREX-II experiment measures a significantly thicker skin, this may be evidence of a softening of the symmetry energy at high densities—likely indicative of a phase transition in the interior of neutron stars.

  1. Relativistic field theory of neutron stars and their hyperon populations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Glendenning, N.K.

    1986-01-01

    The nuclear many-body problem is examined by means of the formulation of an effective relativistic field theory of interacting hadrons. A relativistic field theory of hadronic matter is especially appropriate for the description of hot or dense matter, because of the appearance of antiparticles and higher baryon resonances and because it automatically respects causality. 8 refs., 7 figs., 1 tab

  2. Phase Transition Effects on the Dynamical Stability of Hybrid Neutron Stars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pereira, Jonas P.; Flores, César V.; Lugones, Germán

    2018-06-01

    We study radial oscillations of hybrid nonrotating neutron stars composed by a quark matter core and hadronic external layers. At first, we physically deduce the junction conditions that should be imposed between the two phases in these systems when perturbations take place. Then we compute the oscillation spectrum focusing on the effects of slow and rapid phase transitions at the quark-hadron interface. We use a generic MIT-bag model for quark matter and a relativistic mean field theory for hadronic matter. In the case of rapid transitions at the interface, we find a general relativistic version of the reaction mode that has similar properties as its classical counterpart. We also show that the usual static stability condition ∂M/∂ρ c ≥ 0, where ρ c is the central density of a star whose total mass is M, always remains true for rapid transitions but breaks down in general for slow transitions. In fact, for slow transitions, we find that the frequency of the fundamental mode can be a real number (indicating stability) even for some branches of stellar models that verify ∂M/∂ρ c ≤ 0. Thus, when secular instabilities are suppressed, as expected below some critical stellar rotation rate, the existance of twin or even triplet stars with the same gravitational mass but different radii, with one of the counterparts having ∂M/∂ρ c ≤ 0, would be possible. We explore some astrophysical consequences of these results.

  3. Accurate evolutions of inspiralling and magnetized neutron stars: Equal-mass binaries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Giacomazzo, Bruno; Rezzolla, Luciano; Baiotti, Luca

    2011-01-01

    By performing new, long and numerically accurate general-relativistic simulations of magnetized, equal-mass neutron-star binaries, we investigate the role that realistic magnetic fields may have in the evolution of these systems. In particular, we study the evolution of the magnetic fields and show that they can influence the survival of the hypermassive neutron star produced at the merger by accelerating its collapse to a black hole. We also provide evidence that, even if purely poloidal initially, the magnetic fields produced in the tori surrounding the black hole have toroidal and poloidal components of equivalent strength. When estimating the possibility that magnetic fields could have an impact on the gravitational-wave signals emitted by these systems either during the inspiral or after the merger, we conclude that for realistic magnetic-field strengths B 12 G such effects could be detected, but only marginally, by detectors such as advanced LIGO or advanced Virgo. However, magnetically induced modifications could become detectable in the case of small-mass binaries and with the development of gravitational-wave detectors, such as the Einstein Telescope, with much higher sensitivities at frequencies larger than ≅2 kHz.

  4. Anomalous hydrodynamics kicks neutron stars

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kaminski, Matthias, E-mail: mski@ua.edu [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487 (United States); Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, V8P 5C2 (Canada); Uhlemann, Christoph F. [Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195 (United States); Bleicher, Marcus [Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt (Germany); Institut für Theoretische Physik, Goethe Universität Frankfurt (Germany); Schaffner-Bielich, Jürgen [Institut für Theoretische Physik, Goethe Universität Frankfurt (Germany)

    2016-09-10

    Observations show that, at the beginning of their existence, neutron stars are accelerated briskly to velocities of up to a thousand kilometers per second. We argue that this remarkable effect can be explained as a manifestation of quantum anomalies on astrophysical scales. To theoretically describe the early stage in the life of neutron stars we use hydrodynamics as a systematic effective-field-theory framework. Within this framework, anomalies of the Standard Model of particle physics as underlying microscopic theory imply the presence of a particular set of transport terms, whose form is completely fixed by theoretical consistency. The resulting chiral transport effects in proto-neutron stars enhance neutrino emission along the internal magnetic field, and the recoil can explain the order of magnitude of the observed kick velocities.

  5. NEUTRON-STAR MERGER EJECTA AS OBSTACLES TO NEUTRINO-POWERED JETS OF GAMMA-RAY BURSTS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Just, O.; Janka, H.-T.; Schwarz, N. [Max-Planck-Institut für Astrophysik, Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 1, D-85748 Garching (Germany); Obergaulinger, M. [Departament d´Astronomia i Astrofísica, Universitat de València, Edifici d´Investigació Jeroni Muñoz, C/ Dr. Moliner, 50, E-46100 Burjassot (València) (Spain); Bauswein, A., E-mail: ojust@mpa-garching.mpg.de, E-mail: thj@mpa-garching.mpg.de [Department of Physics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki (Greece)

    2016-01-10

    We present the first special relativistic, axisymmetric hydrodynamic simulations of black hole-torus systems (approximating general relativistic gravity) as remnants of binary-neutron star (NS–NS) and neutron star–black hole (NS–BH) mergers, in which the viscously driven evolution of the accretion torus is followed with self-consistent energy-dependent neutrino transport and the interaction with the cloud of dynamical ejecta expelled during the NS–NS merging is taken into account. The modeled torus masses, BH masses and spins, and the ejecta masses, velocities, and spatial distributions are adopted from relativistic merger simulations. We find that energy deposition by neutrino annihilation can accelerate outflows with initially high Lorentz factors along polar low-density funnels, but only in mergers with extremely low baryon pollution in the polar regions. NS–BH mergers, where polar mass ejection during the merging phase is absent, provide sufficiently baryon-poor environments to enable neutrino-powered, ultrarelativistic jets with terminal Lorentz factors above 100 and considerable dynamical collimation, favoring short gamma-ray bursts (sGRBs), although their typical energies and durations might be too small to explain the majority of events. In the case of NS–NS mergers, however, neutrino emission of the accreting and viscously spreading torus is too short and too weak to yield enough energy for the outflows to break out from the surrounding ejecta shell as highly relativistic jets. We conclude that neutrino annihilation alone cannot power sGRBs from NS–NS mergers.

  6. NEUTRON-STAR MERGER EJECTA AS OBSTACLES TO NEUTRINO-POWERED JETS OF GAMMA-RAY BURSTS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Just, O.; Janka, H.-T.; Schwarz, N.; Obergaulinger, M.; Bauswein, A.

    2016-01-01

    We present the first special relativistic, axisymmetric hydrodynamic simulations of black hole-torus systems (approximating general relativistic gravity) as remnants of binary-neutron star (NS–NS) and neutron star–black hole (NS–BH) mergers, in which the viscously driven evolution of the accretion torus is followed with self-consistent energy-dependent neutrino transport and the interaction with the cloud of dynamical ejecta expelled during the NS–NS merging is taken into account. The modeled torus masses, BH masses and spins, and the ejecta masses, velocities, and spatial distributions are adopted from relativistic merger simulations. We find that energy deposition by neutrino annihilation can accelerate outflows with initially high Lorentz factors along polar low-density funnels, but only in mergers with extremely low baryon pollution in the polar regions. NS–BH mergers, where polar mass ejection during the merging phase is absent, provide sufficiently baryon-poor environments to enable neutrino-powered, ultrarelativistic jets with terminal Lorentz factors above 100 and considerable dynamical collimation, favoring short gamma-ray bursts (sGRBs), although their typical energies and durations might be too small to explain the majority of events. In the case of NS–NS mergers, however, neutrino emission of the accreting and viscously spreading torus is too short and too weak to yield enough energy for the outflows to break out from the surrounding ejecta shell as highly relativistic jets. We conclude that neutrino annihilation alone cannot power sGRBs from NS–NS mergers

  7. Starquakes, Heating Anomalies, and Nuclear Reactions in the Neutron Star Crust

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deibel, Alex Thomas

    When the most massive stars perish, their cores may remain intact in the form of extremely dense and compact stars. These stellar remnants, called neutron stars, are on the cusp of becoming black holes and reach mass densities greater than an atomic nucleus in their centers. Although the interiors of neutron stars were difficult to investigate at the time of their discovery, the advent of modern space-based telescopes (e.g., Chandra X-ray Observatory) has pushed our understanding of the neutron star interior into exciting new realms. It has been shown that the neutron star interior spans an enormous range of densities and contains many phases of matter, and further theoretical progress must rely on numerical calculations of neutron star phenomena built with detailed nuclear physics input. To further investigate the properties of the neutron star interior, this dissertation constructs numerical models of neutron stars, applies models to various observations of neutron star high-energy phenomena, and draws new conclusions about the neutron star interior from these analyses. In particular, we model the neutron star's outermost ? 1 km that encompasses the neutron star's envelope, ocean, and crust. The model must implement detailed nuclear physics to properly simulate the hydrostatic and thermal structure of the neutron star. We then apply our model to phenomena that occur in these layers, such as: thermonuclear bursts in the envelope, g-modes in the ocean, torsional oscillations of the crust, and crust cooling of neutron star transients. A comparison of models to observations provides new insights on the properties of dense matter that are often difficult to probe through terrestrial experiments. For example, models of the quiescent cooling of neutron stars, such as the accreting transient MAXI J0556-332, at late times into quiescence probe the thermal transport properties of the deep neutron star crust. This modeling provides independent data from astronomical

  8. Gamma-ray bursts from fast, galactic neutron stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Colgate, S.A.; Leonard, P.J.

    1996-01-01

    What makes a Galactic model of gamma-ray bursts (GBs) feasible is the observation of a new population of objects, fast neutron stars, that are isotropic with respect to the galaxy following a finite period, ∼30 My, after their formation (1). Our Galactic model for the isotropic component of GBs is based upon high-velocity neutron stars (NSs) that have accretion disks. These fast NSs are formed in tidally locked binaries, producing a unique population of high velocity (approx-gt 10 3 kms -1 ) and slowly rotating (8 s) NSs. Tidal locking occurs due to the meridional circulation caused by the conservation of angular momentum of the tidal lobes. Following the collapse to a NS and the explosion, these lobes initially perturb the NS in the direction of the companion. Subsequent accretion (1 to 2 s) occurs on the rear side of the initial motion, resulting in a runaway acceleration of the NS by neutrino emission from the hot accreted matter. The recoil momentum of the relativistic neutrino emission from the localized, down flowing matter far exceeds the momentum drag of the accreted matter. The recoil of the NS is oriented towards the companion, but the NS misses because of the pre-explosion orbital motion. The near miss captures matter from the companion and forms a disk around the NS. Accretion onto the NS from this initially gaseous disk due to the ''alpha'' viscosity results in a soft gamma-ray repeater phase, which lasts ∼10 4 yr. Later, after the neutron star has moved ∼30 kpc from its birthplace, solid bodies form in the disk, and accrete to planetoid size bodies after ∼3x10 7 years. Some of these planetoid bodies, with a mass of ∼10 21 endash 10 22 g, are perturbed into an orbit inside the tidal distortion radius of approx-gt 10 5 km. Of these ∼1% are captured by the magnetic field of the NS at R 3 km to create GBs

  9. Neutron star news and puzzles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Prakash, Madappa

    2014-01-01

    Gerry Brown has had the most influence on my career in Physics, and my life after graduate studies. This article gives a brief account of some of the many ways in which Gerry shaped my research. Focus is placed on the significant strides on neutron star research made by the group at Stony Brook, which Gerry built from scratch. Selected puzzles about neutron stars that remain to be solved are noted

  10. On neutron stars and gravitation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Castagnino, M.A.

    1987-01-01

    From the variational principle for the total internal energy of a neutron star and some restrictions of the form of the metric coefficients, equations of structure which are valid for every metric theory of gravitation have been found. Some simple solutions of the structure equations to find the maximum mass of a neutron star are also presented. Finally it is studied this problem using a post post-Newtonian parametrization

  11. Burst Oscillations: A New Spin on Neutron Stars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strohmayer, Tod

    2007-01-01

    Observations with NASA's Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) have shown that the X-ray flux during thermonuclear X-ray bursts fr-om accreting neutron stars is often strongly pulsed at frequencies as high as 620 Hz. We now know that these oscillations are produced by spin modulation of the thermonuclear flux from the neutron star surface. In addition to revealing the spin frequency, they provide new ways to probe the properties and physics of accreting neutron stars. I will briefly review our current observational and theoretical understanding of these oscillations and discuss what they are telling us about neutron stars.

  12. Physics of neutron star interiors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Blaschke, D.

    2001-01-01

    Neutron stars are the densest observable bodies in our universe. Born during the gravitational collapse of luminous stars - a birth heralded by spectacular supernova explosions - they open a window on a world where the state of the matter and the strength of the fields are anything but ordinary. This book is a collection of pedagogical lectures on the theory of neutron stars, and especially their interiors, at the forefront of current research. It adresses graduate students and researchers alike, and should be particularly suitable as a text bridging the gap between standard textbook material and the research literature

  13. Neutron-capture nucleosynthesis in the first stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roederer, Ian U.; Preston, George W.; Thompson, Ian B.; Shectman, Stephen A.; Sneden, Christopher

    2014-01-01

    Recent studies suggest that metal-poor stars enhanced in carbon but containing low levels of neutron-capture elements may have been among the first to incorporate the nucleosynthesis products of the first generation of stars. We have observed 16 stars with enhanced carbon or nitrogen using the MIKE Spectrograph on the Magellan Telescopes at Las Campanas Observatory and the Tull Spectrograph on the Smith Telescope at McDonald Observatory. We present radial velocities, stellar parameters, and detailed abundance patterns for these stars. Strontium, yttrium, zirconium, barium, europium, ytterbium, and other heavy elements are detected. In four stars, these heavy elements appear to have originated in some form of r-process nucleosynthesis. In one star, a partial s-process origin is possible. The origin of the heavy elements in the rest of the sample cannot be determined unambiguously. The presence of elements heavier than the iron group offers further evidence that zero-metallicity rapidly rotating massive stars and pair instability supernovae did not contribute substantial amounts of neutron-capture elements to the regions where the stars in our sample formed. If the carbon- or nitrogen-enhanced metal-poor stars with low levels of neutron-capture elements were enriched by products of zero-metallicity supernovae only, then the presence of these heavy elements indicates that at least one form of neutron-capture reaction operated in some of the first stars.

  14. On Fallback Disks around Young Neutron Stars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alpar, M. Ali; Ertan, Ü.; Erkut, M. H.

    2006-08-01

    Some bound matter in the form of a fallback disk may be an initial parameter of isolated neutron stars at birth, which, along with the initial rotation rate and dipole (and higher multipole) magnetic moments, determines the evolution of neutron stars and the categories into which they fall. This talk reviews the possibilities of fallback disk models in explaining properties of isolated neutron stars of different categories. Recent observations of a fallback disk and observational limits on fallback disks will also be discussed.

  15. Electromagnetic damping of neutron star oscillations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McDermott, P.N.; Savedoff, M.P.; Van Horn, H.M.; Zweibel, E.G.; Hansen, C.J.

    1984-01-01

    Nonradial pulsations of a neutron star with a strong dipole magnetic field cause emission of electromagnetic radiation. Here we compute the power radiated to vacuum by neutron star g-mode pulsations and by torsional oscillations of the neutron star crust. For the low-order quadrupole fluid g-modes we have considered, we find electromagnetic damping to be considerably more effective than gravitational radiation. For example, a 0.5 M/sub sun/ neutron star with a core temperature approx.10 7 K has a g 1 -mode period of 371 ms; for this mode were find the electromagnetic damping time to be tau/sub FM/approx.0.3 s, assuming the surface magnetic field strength of the neutron star to be B 0 approx.10 12 gauss. This is considerably less than the corresponding gravitational radiation time tau/sub GR/approx.3 x 10 17 yr. For dipole g-mode oscillations, there is no gravitational radiation, but electromagnetic damping and ohmic dissipation are efficient damping mechanisms. For dipole torsional oscillations, we find that electromagnetic damping again dominates, with tau/sub EM/approx.5 yr. Among the cases we have studied, quadrupole torsional oscillations appear to be dominated by gravitational radiation damping, with tau/sub GR/approx.10 4 yr, as compared with tau/sub EM/approx.2 x 10 7 yr

  16. Lev Landau and the concept of neutron stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yakovlev, Dmitrii G; Haensel, Pawel; Baym, Gordon; Pethick, Christopher

    2013-01-01

    We review Lev Landau's role in the history of neutron star physics in the 1930s. According to the recollections of Rosenfeld (Proc. 16th Solvay Conference on Physics, 1974, p. 174), Landau improvised the concept of neutron stars in a discussion with Bohr and Rosenfeld just after the news of the discovery of the neutron reached Copenhagen in February 1932. We present arguments that the discussion must have taken place in March 1931, before the discovery of the neutron, and that they, in fact, discussed the paper written by Landau in Zurich in February 1931 but not published until February 1932 (Phys. Z. Sowjetunion 1, 285). In this paper, Landau mentioned the possible existence of dense stars that look like one giant nucleus; this could be regarded as an early theoretical prediction or anticipation of neutron stars, albeit prior to the discovery of the neutron. The coincidence of the dates of the neutron discovery and the publication of the paper has led to an erroneous association of Landau's paper with the discovery of the neutron. In passing, we outline Landau's contribution to the theory of white dwarfs and to the hypothesis of stars with neutron cores. (from the history of physics)

  17. Intense electromagnetic outbursts from collapsing hypermassive neutron stars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lehner, Luis; Palenzuela, Carlos; Liebling, Steven L.; Thompson, Christopher; Hanna, Chad

    2012-11-01

    We study the gravitational collapse of a magnetized neutron star using a novel numerical approach able to capture both the dynamics of the star and the behavior of the surrounding plasma. In this approach, a fully general relativistic magnetohydrodynamics implementation models the collapse of the star and provides appropriate boundary conditions to a force-free model which describes the stellar exterior. We validate this strategy by comparing with known results for the rotating monopole and aligned rotator solutions and then apply it to study both rotating and nonrotating stellar collapse scenarios and contrast the behavior with what is obtained when employing the electrovacuum approximation outside the star. The nonrotating electrovacuum collapse is shown to agree qualitatively with a Newtonian model of the electromagnetic field outside a collapsing star. We illustrate and discuss a fundamental difference between the force-free and electrovacuum solutions, involving the appearance of large zones of electric-dominated field in the vacuum case. This provides a clear demonstration of how dissipative singularities appear generically in the nonlinear time evolution of force-free fluids. In both the rotating and nonrotating cases, our simulations indicate that the collapse induces a strong electromagnetic transient, which leaves behind an uncharged, unmagnetized Kerr black hole. In the case of submillisecond rotation, the magnetic field experiences strong winding, and the transient carries much more energy. This result has important implications for models of gamma-ray bursts. Even when the neutron star is surrounded by an accretion torus (as in binary merger and collapsar scenarios), a magnetosphere may emerge through a dynamo process operating in a surface shear layer. When this rapidly rotating magnetar collapses to a black hole, the electromagnetic energy released can compete with the later output in a Blandford-Znajek jet. Much less electromagnetic energy is

  18. Hyperon-mixed neutron star matter and neutron stars

    CERN Document Server

    Nishizaki, S; Yamamoto, Y

    2002-01-01

    Effective SIGMA sup - n and SIGMA sup -SIGMA sup - interactions are derived from the G-matrix calculations for left brace n+SIGMA sup -right brace matter and employed in the investigation of hyperon mixing in neutron star matter. The threshold densities rho sub t (Y) at which hyperons start to appear are between 2 rho sub 0 and 3 rho sub 0 (where rho sub 0 is the normal nuclear density) for both LAMBDA and SIGMA sup - , and their fractions increase rapidly with baryon density, reaching 10% already for rho approx = rho sub t + rho sub 0. The mechanism of hyperon mixing and single-particle properties, such as the effective mass and the potential depth, are analyzed taking into account the roles of YN and NN interactions. The resulting equation of state is found to be too soft to sustain the observed neutron star mass M sub o sub b sub s =1.44(solar mass). We discuss the reason for this and stress the necessity of the ''extra repulsion'' for YN and YY interactions to resolve this crucial problem. It is remarked ...

  19. Supercritical accretion in the evolution of neutron star binaries and its implications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Chang-Hwan, E-mail: clee@pusan.ac.kr; Cho, Hee-Suk

    2014-08-15

    Recently ∼2M{sub ⊙} neutron stars PSR J1614-2230 and PSR J0348+0432 have been observed in neutron star-white dwarf binaries. These observations ruled out many neutron star equations of states with which the maximum neutron star mass becomes less than 2M{sub ⊙}. On the other hand, all well-measured neutron star masses in double neutron star binaries are still less than 1.5M{sub ⊙}. In this article we suggest that 2M{sub ⊙} neutron stars in neutron star-white dwarf binaries are the result of the supercritical accretion onto the first-born neutron star during the evolution of the binary progenitors.

  20. Neutrino Processes in Neutron Stars

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kolomeitsev E.E.

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available The aim of these lectures is to introduce basic processes responsible for cooling of neutron stars and to show how to calculate the neutrino production rate in dense strongly interacting nuclear medium. The formalism is presented that treats on equal footing one-nucleon and multiple-nucleon processes and reactions with virtual bosonic modes and condensates. We demonstrate that neutrino emission from dense hadronic component in neutron stars is subject of strong modifications due to collective effects in the nuclear matter. With the most important in-medium processes incorporated in the cooling code an overall agreement with available soft X ray data can be easily achieved. With these findings the so-called “standard” and “non-standard” cooling scenarios are replaced by one general “nuclear medium cooling scenario” which relates slow and rapid neutron star coolings to the star masses (interior densities. The lectures are split in four parts. Part I: After short introduction to the neutron star cooling problem we show how to calculate neutrino reaction rates of the most efficient one-nucleon and two-nucleon processes. No medium effects are taken into account in this instance. The effects of a possible nucleon pairing are discussed. We demonstrate that the data on neutron star cooling cannot be described without inclusion of medium effects. It motivates an assumption that masses of the neutron stars are different and that neutrino reaction rates should be strongly density dependent. Part II: We introduce the Green’s function diagram technique for systems in and out of equilibrium and the optical theorem formalism. The latter allows to perform calculations of production rates with full Green’s functions including all off-mass-shell effects. We demonstrate how this formalism works within the quasiparticle approximation. Part III: The basic concepts of the nuclear Fermi liquid approach are introduced. We show how strong

  1. Gravitational waves from a spinning particle scattered by a relativistic star: Axial mode case

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tominaga, Kazuhiro; Saijo, Motoyuki; Maeda, Kei-ichi

    2001-01-01

    We use a perturbation method to study gravitational waves from a spinning test particle scattered by a relativistic star. The present analysis is restricted to axial modes. By calculating the energy spectrum, the wave forms, and the total energy and angular momentum of gravitational waves, we analyze the dependence of the emitted gravitational waves on particle spin. For a normal neutron star, the energy spectrum has one broad peak whose characteristic frequency corresponds to the angular velocity at the turning point (a periastron). Since the turning point is determined by the orbital parameter, there exists a dependence of the gravitational wave on particle spin. We find that the total energy of l=2 gravitational waves gets larger as the spin increases in the antiparallel direction to the orbital angular momentum. For an ultracompact star, in addition to such an orbital contribution, we find the quasinormal modes excited by a scattered particle, whose excitation rate to gravitational waves depends on the particle spin. We also discuss the ratio of the total angular momentum to the total energy of gravitational waves and explain its spin dependence

  2. Neutrino emissivity in the quark-hadron mixed phase of neutron stars

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Spinella, William M. [Computational Science Research Center San Diego State University, San Diego, CA (United States); San Diego State University, Department of Physics, San Diego, CA (United States); Weber, Fridolin [San Diego State University, Department of Physics, San Diego, CA (United States); University of California San Diego, Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences, La Jolla, CA (United States); Contrera, Gustavo A. [CONICET, Buenos Aires (Argentina); CONICET - Dept. de Fisica, UNLP, IFLP, La Plata (Argentina); Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Grupo de Gravitacion, Astrofisica y Cosmologia, Facultad de Ciencias Astronomicas y Geofisicas, La Plata (Argentina); Orsaria, Milva G. [CONICET, Buenos Aires (Argentina); Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Grupo de Gravitacion, Astrofisica y Cosmologia, Facultad de Ciencias Astronomicas y Geofisicas, La Plata (Argentina)

    2016-03-15

    Numerous theoretical studies using various equation of state models have shown that quark matter may exist at the extreme densities in the cores of high-mass neutron stars. It has also been shown that a phase transition from hadronic matter to quark matter would result in an extended mixed phase region that would segregate phases by net charge to minimize the total energy of the phase, leading to the formation of a crystalline lattice. The existence of quark matter in the core of a neutron star may have significant consequences for its thermal evolution, which for thousands of years is facilitated primarily by neutrino emission. In this work we investigate the effect a crystalline quark-hadron mixed phase can have on the neutrino emissivity from the core. To this end we calculate the equation of state using the relativistic mean-field approximation to model hadronic matter and a nonlocal extension of the three-flavor Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model for quark matter. Next we determine the extent of the quark-hadron mixed phase and its crystalline structure using the Glendenning construction, allowing for the formation of spherical blob, rod, and slab rare phase geometries. Finally we calculate the neutrino emissivity due to electron-lattice interactions utilizing the formalism developed for the analogous process in neutron star crusts. We find that the contribution to the neutrino emissivity due to the presence of a crystalline quark-hadron mixed phase is substantial compared to other mechanisms at fairly low temperatures (

  3. Observational constraints on neutron star masses and radii

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Coleman Miller, M. [University of Maryland, Department of Astronomy and Joint Space-Science Institute, College Park, MD (United States); Lamb, Frederick K. [University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Center for Theoretical Astrophysics and Department of Physics, Urbana, IL (United States); University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Department of Astronomy, Urbana, IL (United States)

    2016-03-15

    Precise and reliable measurements of the masses and radii of neutron stars with a variety of masses would provide valuable guidance for improving models of the properties of cold matter with densities above the saturation density of nuclear matter. Several different approaches for measuring the masses and radii of neutron stars have been tried or proposed, including analyzing the X-ray fluxes and spectra of the emission from neutron stars in quiescent low-mass X-ray binary systems and thermonuclear burst sources; fitting the energy-dependent X-ray waveforms of rotation-powered millisecond pulsars, burst oscillations with millisecond periods, and accretion-powered millisecond pulsars; and modeling the gravitational radiation waveforms of coalescing double neutron star and neutron star - black hole binary systems. We describe the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches, most of which currently have substantial systematic errors, and discuss the prospects for decreasing the systematic errors in each method. (orig.)

  4. Acceleration and dissolution of stars in the antibang

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Harrison, E.R.

    1983-01-01

    If the universe is spatially closed, and the simplest cosmological models are valid approximations, then in 10 11 years the universe will recollapse into an antibang. Stars will then accelerate. In this paper, the author calculates the temperatures at which black dwarfs, white dwarfs and neutron stars become maximally relativistic. He also calculates the temperatures at which these stars are subjected to dissolution. It turns out that the maximal relativistic speeds will never be attained. Besides those, the increase of entropy due to the acceleration is calculated. (Auth.)

  5. From hadrons to quarks in neutron stars: a review

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baym, Gordon; Hatsuda, Tetsuo; Kojo, Toru; Powell, Philip D.; Song, Yifan; Takatsuka, Tatsuyuki

    2018-05-01

    In recent years our understanding of neutron stars has advanced remarkably, thanks to research converging from many directions. The importance of understanding neutron star behavior and structure has been underlined by the recent direct detection of gravitational radiation from merging neutron stars. The clean identification of several heavy neutron stars, of order two solar masses, challenges our current understanding of how dense matter can be sufficiently stiff to support such a mass against gravitational collapse. Programs underway to determine simultaneously the mass and radius of neutron stars will continue to constrain and inform theories of neutron star interiors. At the same time, an emerging understanding in quantum chromodynamics (QCD) of how nuclear matter can evolve into deconfined quark matter at high baryon densities is leading to advances in understanding the equation of state of the matter under the extreme conditions in neutron star interiors. We review here the equation of state of matter in neutron stars from the solid crust through the liquid nuclear matter interior to the quark regime at higher densities. We focus in detail on the question of how quark matter appears in neutron stars, and how it affects the equation of state. After discussing the crust and liquid nuclear matter in the core we briefly review aspects of microscopic quark physics relevant to neutron stars, and quark models of dense matter based on the Nambu–Jona–Lasinio framework, in which gluonic processes are replaced by effective quark interactions. We turn then to describing equations of state useful for interpretation of both electromagnetic and gravitational observations, reviewing the emerging picture of hadron-quark continuity in which hadronic matter turns relatively smoothly, with at most only a weak first order transition, into quark matter with increasing density. We review construction of unified equations of state that interpolate between the reasonably well

  6. Neutron star formation in theoretical supernovae. Low mass stars and white dwarfs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nomoto, K.

    1986-01-01

    The presupernova evolution of stars that form semi-degenerate or strongly degenerate O + Ne + Mg cores is discussed. For the 10 to 13 Msub solar stars, behavior of off-center neon flashes is crucial. The 8 to 10 m/sub solar stars do not ignite neon and eventually collapse due to electron captures. Properties of supernova explosions and neutron stars expected from these low mass progenitors are compared with the Crab nebula. The conditions for which neutron stars form from accretion-induced collapse of white dwarfs in clsoe binary systems is also examined

  7. Simulation of merging neutron stars in full general relativity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shibata, M.

    2001-01-01

    We have performed 3D numerical simulations for merger of equal mass binary neutron stars in full general relativity. We adopt a Γ-law equation of state in the form P = (Γ - 1)ρε where P, ρ, ε and Γ are the pressure, rest mass density, specific internal energy, and the adiabatic constant. As initial conditions, we adopt models of irrotational binary neutron stars in a quasiequilibrium state. Simulations have been carried out for a wide range of Γ and compactness of neutron stars, paying particular attention to the final product and gravitational waves. We find that the final product depends sensitively on the initial compactness of the neutron stars: In a merger between sufficiently compact neutron stars, a black hole is formed in a dynamical timescale. As the compactness is decreased, the formation timescale becomes longer and longer. It is also found that a differentially rotating massive neutron star is formed instead of a black hole for less compact binary cases. In the case of black hole formation, the disk mass around the black hole appears to be very small; less than 1% of the total rest mass. It is indicated that waveforms of high-frequency gravitational waves after merger depend strongly on the compactness of neutron stars before the merger. We point out importance of detecting such gravitational waves of high frequency to constrain the maximum allowed mass of neutron stars. (author)

  8. Discovery of a Highly Relativistic Double Neutron Star Binary

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chatterjee, Shami; Stovall, Kevin; PALFA Collaboration, Paul Demorest, Nihan Pol

    2018-01-01

    We report the discovery of a double neutron star (DNS) binary system, PSR J1946+2052, in Arecibo L-Band Feed Array Pulsar Survey (PALFA) observations. PSR J1946+2052 is a 17-ms pulsar in a 1.88-hour, eccentric (e = 0.06) orbit with a 1.2 solar mass companion. We have localized the pulsar to a precision of 0.09 arcseconds using a new phase binning mode at the Jansky Very Large Array. The improved position has enabled a measurement of the pulsar spin period derivative of 9E-19 s/s; the low inferred magnetic field strength at the surface of 4E+9 Gauss indicates that the pulsar has been recycled. Among all known DNS systems, PSR J1946+2052 has the shortest orbital period, and currently radiates ~13% of a solar luminosity in gravitational wave power. Its estimated time to merger is only 45.5 MYr, the shortest known, and at that time it will display the largest spin effects of any such system discovered to date. We have also measured the advance of periastron passage for this system, 25.6 +/- 0.3 degrees per year, resulting in a total system mass measurement of 2.50 +/- 0.04 solar masses.

  9. Neutron-capture Nucleosynthesis in the First Stars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roederer, Ian U.; Preston, George W.; Thompson, Ian B.; Shectman, Stephen A.; Sneden, Christopher

    2014-04-01

    Recent studies suggest that metal-poor stars enhanced in carbon but containing low levels of neutron-capture elements may have been among the first to incorporate the nucleosynthesis products of the first generation of stars. We have observed 16 stars with enhanced carbon or nitrogen using the MIKE Spectrograph on the Magellan Telescopes at Las Campanas Observatory and the Tull Spectrograph on the Smith Telescope at McDonald Observatory. We present radial velocities, stellar parameters, and detailed abundance patterns for these stars. Strontium, yttrium, zirconium, barium, europium, ytterbium, and other heavy elements are detected. In four stars, these heavy elements appear to have originated in some form of r-process nucleosynthesis. In one star, a partial s-process origin is possible. The origin of the heavy elements in the rest of the sample cannot be determined unambiguously. The presence of elements heavier than the iron group offers further evidence that zero-metallicity rapidly rotating massive stars and pair instability supernovae did not contribute substantial amounts of neutron-capture elements to the regions where the stars in our sample formed. If the carbon- or nitrogen-enhanced metal-poor stars with low levels of neutron-capture elements were enriched by products of zero-metallicity supernovae only, then the presence of these heavy elements indicates that at least one form of neutron-capture reaction operated in some of the first stars. This paper includes data gathered with the 6.5 m Magellan Telescopes located at Las Campanas Observatory, Chile, and The McDonald Observatory of The University of Texas at Austin.

  10. A spin-down mechanism for accreting neutron stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Illarionov, A.F.; AN SSSR, Moscow. Fizicheskij Inst.); Kompaneets, D.A.

    1990-01-01

    We propose a new spin-down mechanism for accreting neutron stars that explains the existence of a number of long-period (p≅100-1000 s) X-ray pulsars in wide binaries with OB-stars. The spin-down is a result of efficient angular momentum transfer from the rotating magnetosphere of the accreting star to an outflowing stream of magnetized matter. The outflow is formed within a limited solid angle, and the outflow rate is less than the accretion rate. The outflow formation is connected with the anisotropy and intensity of the hard X-ray emission of the neutron star. X-rays from the pulsar heat through Compton scattering the accreting matter anisotropically. The heated matter has a lower density than the surrounding accreting matter and flows up by the action of the buoyancy force. We find the criterion for the outflow to form deep in the accretion flow (i.e., close to the neutron star magnetosphere). The neutron star loses angular momentum when the outflow forms so deep as to capture the magnetic field lines from the rotating magnetosphere. The balance between angular momentum gain by accreting gas and loss by outflowing matter takes place at a particular value of the period of the spinning neutron star. (orig.)

  11. Stacking the nines: relativistic steps to the stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Claycomb, James R

    2007-01-01

    A pedagogical illustration of special relativity is presented using an example of relativistic space travel. Travel times to several destinations in the cosmos are calculated given a spacecraft with specific force/mass ratio of one-g. Practical limitations are discussed, where new technologies may one day enable humans to travel to the nearest stars and beyond

  12. SUPERNOVAE, NEUTRON STARS, AND TWO KINDS OF NEUTRINO

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chiu, H Y

    1962-08-15

    The role of neutrinos in the core of a star that has undergone a supernova explosion is discussed. The existence of neutron stars, the Schwarzchild singularity in general relativity, and the meaning of conservation of baryons in the neighborhood of a Schwarzchild singularity are also considered. The problem of detection of neutron stars is discussed. It is concluded that neutron stars are the most plausible alternative for the remnant of the core of a supernova. The neutrino emission processes are divided into two groups: the neutrino associated with the meson (mu) and the production of electron neutrinos. (C.E.S.)

  13. FAST RADIO BURSTS FROM THE INSPIRAL OF DOUBLE NEUTRON STARS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Jie-Shuang; Yang, Yuan-Pei; Dai, Zi-Gao; Wang, Fa-Yin; Wu, Xue-Feng

    2016-01-01

    In this Letter, we propose that a fast radio burst (FRB) could originate from the magnetic interaction between double neutron stars (NSs) during their final inspiral within the framework of a unipolar inductor model. In this model, an electromotive force is induced on one NS to accelerate electrons to an ultra-relativistic speed instantaneously. We show that coherent curvature radiation from these electrons moving along magnetic field lines in the magnetosphere of the other NS is responsible for the observed FRB signal, that is, the characteristic emission frequency, luminosity, duration, and event rate of FRBs can be well understood. In addition, we discuss several implications of this model, including double-peaked FRBs and possible associations of FRBs with short-duration gamma-ray bursts and gravitational-wave events.

  14. On the moment of inertia of a proto neutron star

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhao Xianfeng; Zhang Hua; Jia Huanyu

    2010-01-01

    The influences of σ * and Φ mesons,temperature and coupling constants of nucleons on the moment of inertia of the proto neutron star (PNS) are examined in the framework of relativistic mean field theory for the baryon octet {n, p, Λ , Σ - , Σ 0 , Σ + , Ξ - , Ξ 0 } system. It is found that, compared with that without considering σ * and Φ mesons, the moment of inertia decreases. It is also found that the higher the temperature, the larger the incompressibility and symmetry energy coefficient, and the larger the moment of inertia of a PNS. The influence of temperature and coupling constants of the nucleons on the moment of inertia of a PNS is larger than that of the σ * and Φ mesons. (authors)

  15. FAST RADIO BURSTS FROM THE INSPIRAL OF DOUBLE NEUTRON STARS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wang, Jie-Shuang; Yang, Yuan-Pei; Dai, Zi-Gao; Wang, Fa-Yin [School of Astronomy and Space Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093 (China); Wu, Xue-Feng, E-mail: dzg@nju.edu.cn [Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008 (China)

    2016-05-01

    In this Letter, we propose that a fast radio burst (FRB) could originate from the magnetic interaction between double neutron stars (NSs) during their final inspiral within the framework of a unipolar inductor model. In this model, an electromotive force is induced on one NS to accelerate electrons to an ultra-relativistic speed instantaneously. We show that coherent curvature radiation from these electrons moving along magnetic field lines in the magnetosphere of the other NS is responsible for the observed FRB signal, that is, the characteristic emission frequency, luminosity, duration, and event rate of FRBs can be well understood. In addition, we discuss several implications of this model, including double-peaked FRBs and possible associations of FRBs with short-duration gamma-ray bursts and gravitational-wave events.

  16. Gravitational-Wave Luminosity of Binary Neutron Stars Mergers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zappa, Francesco; Bernuzzi, Sebastiano; Radice, David; Perego, Albino; Dietrich, Tim

    2018-03-01

    We study the gravitational-wave peak luminosity and radiated energy of quasicircular neutron star mergers using a large sample of numerical relativity simulations with different binary parameters and input physics. The peak luminosity for all the binaries can be described in terms of the mass ratio and of the leading-order post-Newtonian tidal parameter solely. The mergers resulting in a prompt collapse to black hole have the largest peak luminosities. However, the largest amount of energy per unit mass is radiated by mergers that produce a hypermassive neutron star or a massive neutron star remnant. We quantify the gravitational-wave luminosity of binary neutron star merger events, and set upper limits on the radiated energy and the remnant angular momentum from these events. We find that there is an empirical universal relation connecting the total gravitational radiation and the angular momentum of the remnant. Our results constrain the final spin of the remnant black hole and also indicate that stable neutron star remnant forms with super-Keplerian angular momentum.

  17. Gravitational-Wave Luminosity of Binary Neutron Stars Mergers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zappa, Francesco; Bernuzzi, Sebastiano; Radice, David; Perego, Albino; Dietrich, Tim

    2018-03-16

    We study the gravitational-wave peak luminosity and radiated energy of quasicircular neutron star mergers using a large sample of numerical relativity simulations with different binary parameters and input physics. The peak luminosity for all the binaries can be described in terms of the mass ratio and of the leading-order post-Newtonian tidal parameter solely. The mergers resulting in a prompt collapse to black hole have the largest peak luminosities. However, the largest amount of energy per unit mass is radiated by mergers that produce a hypermassive neutron star or a massive neutron star remnant. We quantify the gravitational-wave luminosity of binary neutron star merger events, and set upper limits on the radiated energy and the remnant angular momentum from these events. We find that there is an empirical universal relation connecting the total gravitational radiation and the angular momentum of the remnant. Our results constrain the final spin of the remnant black hole and also indicate that stable neutron star remnant forms with super-Keplerian angular momentum.

  18. MODEL ATMOSPHERES FOR X-RAY BURSTING NEUTRON STARS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Medin, Zach; Fontes, Christopher J.; Fryer, Chris L.; Hungerford, Aimee L.; Steinkirch, Marina von; Calder, Alan C.

    2016-01-01

    The hydrogen and helium accreted by X-ray bursting neutron stars is periodically consumed in runaway thermonuclear reactions that cause the entire surface to glow brightly in X-rays for a few seconds. With models of the emission, the mass and radius of the neutron star can be inferred from the observations. By simultaneously probing neutron star masses and radii, X-ray bursts (XRBs) are one of the strongest diagnostics of the nature of matter at extremely high densities. Accurate determinations of these parameters are difficult, however, due to the highly non-ideal nature of the atmospheres where XRBs occur. Observations from X-ray telescopes such as RXTE and NuStar can potentially place strong constraints on nuclear matter once uncertainties in atmosphere models have been reduced. Here we discuss current progress on modeling atmospheres of X-ray bursting neutron stars and some of the challenges still to be overcome.

  19. MODEL ATMOSPHERES FOR X-RAY BURSTING NEUTRON STARS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Medin, Zach; Fontes, Christopher J.; Fryer, Chris L.; Hungerford, Aimee L. [Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545 (United States); Steinkirch, Marina von; Calder, Alan C. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794 (United States)

    2016-12-01

    The hydrogen and helium accreted by X-ray bursting neutron stars is periodically consumed in runaway thermonuclear reactions that cause the entire surface to glow brightly in X-rays for a few seconds. With models of the emission, the mass and radius of the neutron star can be inferred from the observations. By simultaneously probing neutron star masses and radii, X-ray bursts (XRBs) are one of the strongest diagnostics of the nature of matter at extremely high densities. Accurate determinations of these parameters are difficult, however, due to the highly non-ideal nature of the atmospheres where XRBs occur. Observations from X-ray telescopes such as RXTE and NuStar can potentially place strong constraints on nuclear matter once uncertainties in atmosphere models have been reduced. Here we discuss current progress on modeling atmospheres of X-ray bursting neutron stars and some of the challenges still to be overcome.

  20. On the Origin of Hyperfast Neutron Stars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gvaramadze, V. V.; Gualandris, A.; Portegies Zwart, S.

    2008-05-01

    We propose an explanation for the origin of hyperfast neutron stars (e.g. PSR B1508+55, PSR B2224+65, RX J0822 4300) based on the hypothesis that they could be the remnants of a symmetric supernova explosion of a high-velocity massive star (or its helium core) which attained its peculiar velocity (similar to that of the neutron star) in the course of a strong three- or four-body dynamical encounter in the core of a young massive star cluster. This hypothesis implies that the dense cores of star clusters (located either in the Galactic disk or near the Galactic centre) could also produce the so-called hypervelocity stars ordinary stars moving with a speed of ~ 1 000 km s-1.

  1. Shock wave produced by hadron-quark phase transition in neutron star

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gustavo de Almeida, Luis, E-mail: lgalmeida@cbpf.br [Universidade Federal do Acre – Campus Floresta, Estrada do Canela Fina, km 12, CEP 69980-000, Cruzeiro do Sul, AC (Brazil); Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas, Rua Dr. Xavier Sigaud, 150, CEP 22290-180, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Duarte, Sérgio José Barbosa, E-mail: sbd@cbpf.br [Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas, Rua Dr. Xavier Sigaud, 150, CEP 22290-180, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Rodrigues, Hilário, E-mail: harg.astrophys@gmail.com [Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica Celso Suckow da Fonseca Av. Maracanã, 229, CEP 20271-110, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil)

    2015-12-17

    In this work we present a schematic description of the detonation wave in hadronic matter inside a neutron star core. We have used a simplified two shells model where the inner shell medium is initially composed of a small lump of strange quark matter surrounded by a large outer shell composed of hadronic matter. We have utilized an equation of state (EOS) based on Relativistic Mean Field Theory with the parameter set NL3 to describe the nuclear and subnuclear phases. We use the MIT bag model to describe the strange quark matter. The hadron-quark phase transition actually induces highly non equilibrium modes, which may become a detonation process (faster) or a burning process (slower). The main purpose of the work is to study the formation of a remnant quark star and the possibility of mass ejection caused by the hadron-quark phase transition. We have found that the total amount of ejected mass is dependant of the bag constant utilized in the strange matter description.

  2. Binary pulsars as probes of neutron star birth

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wijers, R.A.M.J.; van Paradijs, J.; van den Heuvel, E.P.J.

    1992-01-01

    We discuss two issues in the physics of neutron stars and their progenitors. The first is whether a neutron star receives a velocity kick when it is formed in the supernova-explosion of a massive star, and if it does, what is the characteristic magnitude, v(0), thereof? The second concerns the fate

  3. Neutron Stars: Laboratories for Fundamental Physics Under ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    DEBADES BANDYOPADHYAY

    2017-09-07

    Sep 7, 2017 ... Abstract. We discuss different exotic phases and components of matter from the crust to the core of neutron stars based on theoretical models for equations of state relevant to core collapse supernova simulations and neutron star merger. Parameters of the models are constrained from laboratory ...

  4. Thin accretion disks around cold Bose-Einstein condensate stars

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Danila, Bogdan [Babes-Bolyai University, Department of Physics, Cluj-Napoca (Romania); Harko, Tiberiu [University College London, Department of Mathematics, London (United Kingdom); Kovacs, Zoltan

    2015-05-15

    Due to their superfluid properties some compact astrophysical objects, like neutron or quark stars, may contain a significant part of their matter in the form of a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). Observationally distinguishing between neutron/quark stars and BEC stars is a major challenge for this latter theoretical model. An observational possibility of indirectly distinguishing BEC stars from neutron/quark stars is through the study of the thin accretion disks around compact general relativistic objects. In the present paper, we perform a detailed comparative study of the electromagnetic and thermodynamic properties of the thin accretion disks around rapidly rotating BEC stars, neutron stars and quark stars, respectively. Due to the differences in the exterior geometry, the thermodynamic and electromagnetic properties of the disks (energy flux, temperature distribution, equilibrium radiation spectrum, and efficiency of energy conversion) are different for these classes of compact objects. Hence in this preliminary study we have pointed out some astrophysical signatures that may allow one to observationally discriminate between BEC stars and neutron/quark stars. (orig.)

  5. Model Atmospheres for X-ray Bursting Neutron Stars

    OpenAIRE

    Medin, Zach; von Steinkirch, Marina; Calder, Alan C.; Fontes, Christopher J.; Fryer, Chris L.; Hungerford, Aimee L.

    2016-01-01

    The hydrogen and helium accreted by X-ray bursting neutron stars is periodically consumed in runaway thermonuclear reactions that cause the entire surface to glow brightly in X-rays for a few seconds. With models of the emission, the mass and radius of the neutron star can be inferred from the observations. By simultaneously probing neutron star masses and radii, X-ray bursts are one of the strongest diagnostics of the nature of matter at extremely high densities. Accurate determinations of t...

  6. How neutron stars constrain the nuclear equation of state

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hell Thomas

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Recent neutron star observations set new constraints for the equation of state of baryonic matter. A chiral effective field theory approach is used for the description of neutron-dominated nuclear matter present in the outer core of neutron stars. Possible hybrid stars with quark matter in the inner core are discussed using a three-flavor Nambu–Jona-Lasinio model.

  7. Cyclotron Lines in Accreting Neutron Star Spectra

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilms, Jörn; Schönherr, Gabriele; Schmid, Julia; Dauser, Thomas; Kreykenbohm, Ingo

    2009-05-01

    Cyclotron lines are formed through transitions of electrons between discrete Landau levels in the accretion columns of accreting neutron stars with strong (1012 G) magnetic fields. We summarize recent results on the formation of the spectral continuum of such systems, describe recent advances in the modeling of the lines based on a modification of the commonly used Monte Carlo approach, and discuss new results on the dependence of the measured cyclotron line energy from the luminosity of transient neutron star systems. Finally, we show that Simbol-X will be ideally suited to build and improve the observational database of accreting and strongly magnetized neutron stars.

  8. Rotating neutron stars with exotic cores: masses, radii, stability

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Haensel, P.; Bejger, M.; Fortin, M.; Zdunik, L. [Polish Academy of Sciences, N. Copernicus Astronomical Center, Warszawa (Poland)

    2016-03-15

    A set of theoretical mass-radius relations for rigidly rotating neutron stars with exotic cores, obtained in various theories of dense matter, is reviewed. Two basic observational constraints are used: the largest measured rotation frequency (716Hz) and the maximum measured mass (2M {sub CircleDot}). The present status of measuring the radii of neutron stars is described. The theory of rigidly rotating stars in general relativity is reviewed and limitations of the slow rotation approximation are pointed out. Mass-radius relations for rotating neutron stars with hyperon and quark cores are illustrated using several models. Problems related to the non-uniqueness of the crust-core matching are mentioned. Limits on rigid rotation resulting from the mass-shedding instability and the instability with respect to the axisymmetric perturbations are summarized. The problem of instabilities and of the back-bending phenomenon are discussed in detail. Metastability and instability of a neutron star core in the case of a first-order phase transition, both between pure phases, and into a mixed-phase state, are reviewed. The case of two disjoint families (branches) of rotating neutron stars is discussed and generic features of neutron-star families and of core-quakes triggered by the instabilities are considered. (orig.)

  9. Structure of neutron stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cheong, C.K.

    1974-01-01

    Structure of neutron stars consisting of a cold and catalyzed superdense matter were investigated by integrating the equations for hydrostatic equilibrium based on the General Relativity theory. The equations of state were obtained with the help of semiempirical nuclear mass formulae. A large phase transition was found between the nuclear and subnuclear density regions. The density phase transition points were calculated as 6.2 x 10 11 and 3.8 x 10 13 g/cm 3 . Due to such a large phase transition, the equation of state practically consists of two parts: The nuclear and subnuclear phases wich are in contact under the thermodynamical equilibrium at the corresponding pressure. Some macroscopic properties of neutron stars are discussed. (Author) [pt

  10. Hot neutron stars at birth and energy release

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takatsuka, Tatsuyuki

    1994-01-01

    For the discussion of hot neutron stars at birth, it is necessary to calculate the equation of state for a so-called 'supernova matter' consisting of a neutron-rich nuclear matter and degenerated leptons. One of the aims of this paper is to obtain the realistic results for the equation of state. In 10-20s after the birth, new born hot neutron stars are cooled down by neutrino diffusion process, and gradually contract to usual cold neutron starts. It is another aim of this paper to determine how much energy is released during this cooling stage. The points to which attention was paid are explained. A three-nucleon interaction was introduced phenomenologically, as a two-nucleon interaction is insufficient to satisfy the empirical saturation property of symmetric nuclear matters. The separation of uncertain part from well-known part has the merit to clarify the dependence of the results on the present theoretical uncertainties. The validity of the simplified calculation as an approximation for the exact calculation is discussed. The results by both calculations were compared for the case of hot symmetric nuclear matters. The comparison of the density profiles for a hot neutron star and a cold neutron star is shown. The binding energy for hot and cold neutron stars was plotted. These results are examined. (K.I.)

  11. Gravitational waves from axisymmetric rotating stellar core collapse to a neutron star in full general relativity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shibata, Masaru; Sekiguchi, Yu-ichirou

    2004-01-01

    Axisymmetric numerical simulations of rotating stellar core collapse to a neutron star are performed in the framework of full general relativity. The so-called Cartoon method, in which the Einstein field equations are solved in Cartesian coordinates and the axisymmetric condition is imposed around the y=0 plane, is adopted. The hydrodynamic equations are solved in cylindrical coordinates (on the y=0 plane in Cartesian coordinates) using a high-resolution shock-capturing scheme with maximum grid size (2500,2500). A parametric equation of state is adopted to model collapsing stellar cores and neutron stars following Dimmelmeier, Font, and Mueller. It is found that the evolution of the central density during the collapse, bounce, and formation of protoneutron stars agrees well with that in the work of Dimmelmeier, Font, and Mueller in which an approximate general relativistic formulation is adopted. This indicates that such an approximation is appropriate for following axisymmetric stellar core collapses and the subsequent formation of protoneutron stars. Gravitational waves are computed using a quadrupole formula. It is found that the waveforms are qualitatively in good agreement with those by Dimmelmeier, Font, and Mueller. However, quantitatively, two waveforms do not agree well. The possible reasons for the disagreement are discussed

  12. Slowly braked, rotating neutron stars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sato, H.

    1975-01-01

    A slowly braked, rotating neutron star is believed to be a star which rapidly rotates, has no nebula, is nonpulsing, and has a long initial braking time of ten thousand to a million years because of a low magnetic field. Such an object might be observable as an extended weak source of infrared or radio wave radiation due to the scattering of low-frequency strong-wave photons by accelerated electrons. If these objects exist abundantly in the Galaxy, they would act as sources of relatively low-energy cosmic rays. Pulsars (rapidly braked neutron stars) are shown to have difficulties in providing an adequate amount of cosmic-ray matter, making these new sources seem necessary. The possibility that the acceleration mechanism around a slowly braked star may be not a direct acceleration by the strong wave but an acceleration due to plasma turbulence excited by the strong wave is briefly explored. It is shown that white dwarfs may also be slowly braked stars with braking times longer than 3.15 million years.

  13. ELECTROMAGNETIC EXTRACTION OF ENERGY FROM BLACK-HOLE–NEUTRON-STAR BINARIES

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McWilliams, Sean T.; Levin, Janna

    2011-01-01

    The coalescence of black-hole-neutron-star binaries is expected to be a principal source of gravitational waves for the next generation of detectors, Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo. For black hole masses not much larger than the neutron star mass, the tidal disruption of the neutron star by the black hole provides one avenue for generating an electromagnetic counterpart. However, in this work, we demonstrate that, for all black-hole-neutron-star binaries observable by Advanced LIGO/Virgo, the interaction of the black hole with the magnetic field of the neutron star will generate copious luminosity, comparable to supernovae and active galactic nuclei. This novel effect may have already been observed as a new class of very short gamma-ray bursts by the Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Telescope. These events may be observable to cosmological distances, so that any black-hole-neutron-star coalescence detectable with gravitational waves by Advanced LIGO/Virgo could also be detectable electromagnetically.

  14. Quasiparticle Interactions in Neutron Matter for Applications in Neutron Stars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wambach, J.; Anisworth, T. L.; Pines, D.

    1993-01-01

    A microscopic model for the quaisiparticle interaction in neutron matter is presented. Both particle-particle (pp) and particle-hole (ph) correlation are are included. The pp correlations are treated in semi-empirical way, while ph correlations are incorporated by solving coupled two-body equations for the particle hole interaction and the scattering amplitude on the Fermi sphere. The resulting integral equations self-consistently sum the ph reducible diagrams. Antisymmetry is kept at all stages and hence the forward-scattering sum rules are obeyed. Results for Landau parameters and transport coefficients in a density regime representing the crust of a neutron star are presented. We also estimate the S-1 gap parameter for neutron superfluidity and comment briefly on neutron-star implications.

  15. NECESSARY CONDITIONS FOR SHORT GAMMA-RAY BURST PRODUCTION IN BINARY NEUTRON STAR MERGERS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Murguia-Berthier, Ariadna; Montes, Gabriela; Ramirez-Ruiz, Enrico; De Colle, Fabio; Lee, William H.

    2014-01-01

    The central engine of short gamma-ray bursts (sGRBs) is hidden from direct view, operating at a scale much smaller than that probed by the emitted radiation. Thus we must infer its origin not only with respect to the formation of the trigger—the actual astrophysical configuration that is capable of powering an sGRB—but also from the consequences that follow from the various evolutionary pathways that may be involved in producing it. Considering binary neutron star mergers we critically evaluate, analytically and through numerical simulations, whether the neutrino-driven wind produced by the newly formed hyper-massive neutron star can allow the collimated relativistic outflow that follows its collapse to actually produce an sGRB or not. Upon comparison with the observed sGRB duration distribution, we find that collapse cannot be significantly delayed (≤100 ms) before the outflow is choked, thus limiting the possibility that long-lived hyper-massive remnants can account for these events. In the case of successful breakthrough of the jet through the neutrino-driven wind, the energy stored in the cocoon could contribute to the precursor and extended emission observed in sGRBs

  16. Pion condensation in cold dense matter and neutron stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Haensel, P.; Proszynski, M.

    1982-01-01

    We study possible influence, on the neutron star structure, of a pion condensation occurring in cold dense matter. Several equations of state with pion-condensed phase are considered. The models of neutron stars are calculated and confronted with existing observational data on pulsars. Such a confrontation appears to rule out the models of dense matter with an abnormal self-bound state, and therefore it seems to exclude the possibility of the existence of abnormal superheavy neutron nuclei and abnormal neutron stars with a liquid pion-condensed surface

  17. Merger of binary neutron stars: Gravitational waves and electromagnetic counterparts

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shibata, Masaru

    2016-12-15

    Late inspiral and merger phases of binary neutron stars are the valuable new experimental fields for exploring nuclear physics because (i) gravitational waves from them will bring information for the neutron-star equation of state and (ii) the matter ejected after the onset of the merger could be the main site for the r-process nucleosynthesis. We will summarize these aspects of the binary neutron stars, describing the current understanding for the merger process of binary neutron stars that has been revealed by numerical-relativity simulations.

  18. Gamma-Ray Bursts from Neutron Star Kicks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Y. F.; Dai, Z. G.; Lu, T.; Cheng, K. S.; Wu, X. F.

    2003-09-01

    The idea that gamma-ray bursts might be a phenomenon associated with neutron star kicks was first proposed by Dar & Plaga. Here we study this mechanism in more detail and point out that the neutron star should be a high-speed one (with proper motion larger than ~1000 km s-1). It is shown that the model agrees well with observations in many aspects, such as the energetics, the event rate, the collimation, the bimodal distribution of durations, the narrowly clustered intrinsic energy, and the association of gamma-ray bursts with supernovae and star-forming regions. We also discuss the implications of this model on the neutron star kick mechanism and suggest that the high kick speed was probably acquired as the result of the electromagnetic rocket effect of a millisecond magnetar with an off-centered magnetic dipole.

  19. SPIN-PRECESSION: BREAKING THE BLACK HOLE-NEUTRON STAR DEGENERACY

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chatziioannou, Katerina; Cornish, Neil; Klein, Antoine; Yunes, Nicolás [Department of Physics, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717 (United States)

    2015-01-01

    Mergers of compact stellar remnants are prime targets for the LIGO/Virgo gravitational wave detectors. The gravitational wave signals from these merger events can be used to study the mass and spin distribution of stellar remnants, and provide information about black hole horizons and the material properties of neutron stars. However, it has been suggested that degeneracies in the way that the star's mass and spin are imprinted in the waveforms may make it impossible to distinguish between black holes and neutron stars. Here we show that the precession of the orbital plane due to spin-orbit coupling breaks the mass-spin degeneracy, and allows us to distinguish between standard neutron stars and alternative possibilities, such as black holes or exotic neutron stars with large masses and spins.

  20. Nuclear matter in relativistic mean field theory with isovector scalar meson.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kubis, S.; Kutschera, M. [Institute of Nuclear Physics, Cracow (Poland)

    1996-12-01

    Relativistic mean field (RMF) theory of nuclear matter with the isovector scalar mean field corresponding to the {delta}-meson [a{sub 0}(980)] is studied. While the {delta}-meson field vanishes in symmetric nuclear matter, it can influence properties of asymmetric nuclear matter in neutron stars. The RMF contribution due to {delta}-field to the nuclear symmetry energy is negative. To fit the empirical value, E{sub s}{approx}30 MeV, a stronger {rho}-meson coupling is required than in absence of the {delta}-field. The energy per particle of neutron star matter is than larger at high densities than the one with no {delta}-field included. Also, the proton fraction of {beta}-stable matter increases. Splitting of proton and neutron effective masses due to the {delta}-field can affect transport properties of neutron star matter. (author). 4 refs, 6 figs.

  1. Nuclear matter in relativistic mean field theory with isovector scalar meson

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kubis, S.; Kutschera, M.

    1996-12-01

    Relativistic mean field (RMF) theory of nuclear matter with the isovector scalar mean field corresponding to the δ-meson [a 0 (980)] is studied. While the δ-meson field vanishes in symmetric nuclear matter, it can influence properties of asymmetric nuclear matter in neutron stars. The RMF contribution due to δ-field to the nuclear symmetry energy is negative. To fit the empirical value, E s ∼30 MeV, a stronger ρ-meson coupling is required than in absence of the δ-field. The energy per particle of neutron star matter is than larger at high densities than the one with no δ-field included. Also, the proton fraction of β-stable matter increases. Splitting of proton and neutron effective masses due to the δ-field can affect transport properties of neutron star matter. (author). 4 refs, 6 figs

  2. Probing thermonuclear burning on accreting neutron stars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keek, L.

    2008-12-01

    Neutron stars are the most compact stars that can be directly observed, which makes them ideal laboratories to study physics at extreme densities. Neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binaries accrete hydrogen and helium from a lower-mass companion star through Roche lobe overflow. This matter undergoes thermonuclear burning in the neutron star envelope, creating carbon and heavier elements. The fusion process may proceed in an unstable manner, resulting in a thermonuclear runaway. Within one second the entire surface is burned, which is observable as a sharp rise in the emitted X-ray flux: a type I X-ray burst. Afterwards the neutron star surface cools down on a timescale of ten to one hundred seconds. During these bursts the surface of an accreting neutron star can be observed directly, which makes them instrumental for studying this type of stars. We have studied rare kinds of X-ray bursts. One such rare burst is the superburst, which lasts a thousand times longer than an ordinary burst. Superbursts are thought to result from the explosive burning of a thick carbon layer, which lies deeper inside the neutron star, close to a layer known as the crust. A prerequisite for the occurrence of a superburst is a high enough temperature, which is set by the temperature of the crust and the heat conductivity of the envelope. The latter is lowered by the presence of heavy elements that are produced during normal X-ray bursts. Using a large set of observations from the Wide Field Camera's onboard the BeppoSAX satellite, we find that, at high accretion rate, sources which do not exhibit normal bursts likely have a longer superburst recurrence time, than the observed superburst recurrence time of one burster. We analyze in detail the first superburst from a transient source, which went into outburst only 55 days before the superburst. Recent models of the neutron star crust predict that this is too small a time to heat the crust sufficiently for superburst ignition, indicating

  3. Neutron stars structure in the context of massive gravity

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hendi, S.H.; Bordbar, G.H.; Panah, B. Eslam; Panahiyan, S., E-mail: hendi@shirazu.ac.ir, E-mail: ghbordbar@shirazu.ac.ir, E-mail: behzad.eslampanah@gmail.com, E-mail: sh.panahiyan@gmail.com [Physics Department and Biruni Observatory, College of Sciences, Shiraz University, Shiraz 71454 (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

    2017-07-01

    Motivated by the recent interests in spin−2 massive gravitons, we study the structure of neutron star in the context of massive gravity. The modifications of TOV equation in the presence of massive gravity are explored in 4 and higher dimensions. Next, by considering the modern equation of state for the neutron star matter (which is extracted by the lowest order constrained variational (LOCV) method with the AV18 potential), different physical properties of the neutron star (such as Le Chatelier's principle, stability and energy conditions) are investigated. It is shown that consideration of the massive gravity has specific contributions into the structure of neutron star and introduces new prescriptions for the massive astrophysical objects. The mass-radius relation is examined and the effects of massive gravity on the Schwarzschild radius, average density, compactness, gravitational redshift and dynamical stability are studied. Finally, a relation between mass and radius of neutron star versus the Planck mass is extracted.

  4. Neutron stars structure in the context of massive gravity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hendi, S. H.; Bordbar, G. H.; Eslam Panah, B.; Panahiyan, S.

    2017-07-01

    Motivated by the recent interests in spin-2 massive gravitons, we study the structure of neutron star in the context of massive gravity. The modifications of TOV equation in the presence of massive gravity are explored in 4 and higher dimensions. Next, by considering the modern equation of state for the neutron star matter (which is extracted by the lowest order constrained variational (LOCV) method with the AV18 potential), different physical properties of the neutron star (such as Le Chatelier's principle, stability and energy conditions) are investigated. It is shown that consideration of the massive gravity has specific contributions into the structure of neutron star and introduces new prescriptions for the massive astrophysical objects. The mass-radius relation is examined and the effects of massive gravity on the Schwarzschild radius, average density, compactness, gravitational redshift and dynamical stability are studied. Finally, a relation between mass and radius of neutron star versus the Planck mass is extracted.

  5. Neutron stars structure in the context of massive gravity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hendi, S.H.; Bordbar, G.H.; Panah, B. Eslam; Panahiyan, S.

    2017-01-01

    Motivated by the recent interests in spin−2 massive gravitons, we study the structure of neutron star in the context of massive gravity. The modifications of TOV equation in the presence of massive gravity are explored in 4 and higher dimensions. Next, by considering the modern equation of state for the neutron star matter (which is extracted by the lowest order constrained variational (LOCV) method with the AV18 potential), different physical properties of the neutron star (such as Le Chatelier's principle, stability and energy conditions) are investigated. It is shown that consideration of the massive gravity has specific contributions into the structure of neutron star and introduces new prescriptions for the massive astrophysical objects. The mass-radius relation is examined and the effects of massive gravity on the Schwarzschild radius, average density, compactness, gravitational redshift and dynamical stability are studied. Finally, a relation between mass and radius of neutron star versus the Planck mass is extracted.

  6. Accreting neutron stars, black holes, and degenerate dwarf stars.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pines, D

    1980-02-08

    During the past 8 years, extended temporal and broadband spectroscopic studies carried out by x-ray astronomical satellites have led to the identification of specific compact x-ray sources as accreting neutron stars, black holes, and degenerate dwarf stars in close binary systems. Such sources provide a unique opportunity to study matter under extreme conditions not accessible in the terrestrial laboratory. Quantitative theoretical models have been developed which demonstrate that detailed studies of these sources will lead to a greatly increased understanding of dense and superdense hadron matter, hadron superfluidity, high-temperature plasma in superstrong magnetic fields, and physical processes in strong gravitational fields. Through a combination of theory and observation such studies will make possible the determination of the mass, radius, magnetic field, and structure of neutron stars and degenerate dwarf stars and the identification of further candidate black holes, and will contribute appreciably to our understanding of the physics of accretion by compact astronomical objects.

  7. Sensitivity of the moment of inertia of neutron stars to the equation of state of neutron-rich matter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fattoyev, F. J.; Piekarewicz, J.

    2010-01-01

    The sensitivity of the stellar moment of inertia to the neutron-star matter equation of state is examined using accurately calibrated relativistic mean-field models. We probe this sensitivity by tuning both the density dependence of the symmetry energy and the high-density component of the equation of state, properties that are at present poorly constrained by existing laboratory data. Particularly attractive is the study of the fraction of the moment of inertia contained in the solid crust. Analytic treatments of the crustal moment of inertia reveal a high sensitivity to the transition pressure at the core-crust interface. This may suggest the existence of a strong correlation between the density dependence of the symmetry energy and the crustal moment of inertia. However, no correlation was found. We conclude that constraining the density dependence of the symmetry energy - through, for example, the measurement of the neutron skin thickness in 208 Pb - will place no significant bound on either the transition pressure or the crustal moment of inertia.

  8. ON THE MASS DISTRIBUTION AND BIRTH MASSES OF NEUTRON STARS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Özel, Feryal; Psaltis, Dimitrios; Santos Villarreal, Antonio; Narayan, Ramesh

    2012-01-01

    We investigate the distribution of neutron star masses in different populations of binaries, employing Bayesian statistical techniques. In particular, we explore the differences in neutron star masses between sources that have experienced distinct evolutionary paths and accretion episodes. We find that the distribution of neutron star masses in non-recycled eclipsing high-mass binaries as well as of slow pulsars, which are all believed to be near their birth masses, has a mean of 1.28 M ☉ and a dispersion of 0.24 M ☉ . These values are consistent with expectations for neutron star formation in core-collapse supernovae. On the other hand, double neutron stars, which are also believed to be near their birth masses, have a much narrower mass distribution, peaking at 1.33 M ☉ , but with a dispersion of only 0.05 M ☉ . Such a small dispersion cannot easily be understood and perhaps points to a particular and rare formation channel. The mass distribution of neutron stars that have been recycled has a mean of 1.48 M ☉ and a dispersion of 0.2 M ☉ , consistent with the expectation that they have experienced extended mass accretion episodes. The fact that only a very small fraction of recycled neutron stars in the inferred distribution have masses that exceed ∼2 M ☉ suggests that only a few of these neutron stars cross the mass threshold to form low-mass black holes.

  9. General-relativistic Large-eddy Simulations of Binary Neutron Star Mergers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Radice, David, E-mail: dradice@astro.princeton.edu [Institute for Advanced Study, 1 Einstein Drive, Princeton, NJ 08540 (United States)

    2017-03-20

    The flow inside remnants of binary neutron star (NS) mergers is expected to be turbulent, because of magnetohydrodynamics instability activated at scales too small to be resolved in simulations. To study the large-scale impact of these instabilities, we develop a new formalism, based on the large-eddy simulation technique, for the modeling of subgrid-scale turbulent transport in general relativity. We apply it, for the first time, to the simulation of the late-inspiral and merger of two NSs. We find that turbulence can significantly affect the structure and survival time of the merger remnant, as well as its gravitational-wave (GW) and neutrino emissions. The former will be relevant for GW observation of merging NSs. The latter will affect the composition of the outflow driven by the merger and might influence its nucleosynthetic yields. The accretion rate after black hole formation is also affected. Nevertheless, we find that, for the most likely values of the turbulence mixing efficiency, these effects are relatively small and the GW signal will be affected only weakly by the turbulence. Thus, our simulations provide a first validation of all existing post-merger GW models.

  10. Ultra-dense neutron star matter, strange quark stars, and the nuclear equation of state

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Weber, F.; Meixner, M.; Negreiros, R.P.; Malheiro, M.

    2007-01-01

    With central densities way above the density of atomic nuclei, neutron stars contain matter in one of the densest forms found in the universe. Depending of the density reached in the cores of neutron stars, they may contain stable phases of exotic matter found nowhere else in space. This article gives a brief overview of the phases of ultra-dense matter predicted to exist deep inside neutron stars and discusses the equation of state (EoS) associated with such matter. (author)

  11. Limits on Self-Interacting Dark Matter from Neutron Stars

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kouvaris, C.

    2012-01-01

    We impose new severe constraints on the self-interactions of fermionic asymmetric dark matter based on observations of nearby old neutron stars. Weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) self-interactions mediated by Yukawa-type interactions can lower significantly the number of WIMPs necessary...... for gravitational collapse of the WIMP population accumulated in a neutron star. Even nearby neutron stars located at regions of low dark matter density can accrete a sufficient number of WIMPs that can potentially collapse, form a mini black hole, and destroy the host star. Based on this, we derive constraints...

  12. Neutron removal in peripheral relativistic heavy ion collisions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aumann, T.

    1994-09-01

    We investigate the relativistic Coulomb fragmentation of 197 Au by heavy ions, leading to one-, two- and three-neutron removal. To resolve the ambiguity connected with the choice of a specific minimum impact parameter in a semiclassical calculation, a microscopic approach is developed based on nucleon-nucleon collisions ('soft-spheres' model). This approach is compared with experimental data for 197 Au at 1 GeV/nucleon and with a calculation using the 'sharp-cutoff' approximation. We find that the harmonic-oscillator model predicting a Poisson distribution of the excitation probabilities of multiphonon states gives a good agreement with one-neutron removal cross sections but is unable to reach an equally good agreement with three-neutron removal cross sections. (orig.)

  13. Baryon superfluidity and neutrino emissivity of neutron stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takatsuka, Tatsuyuki; Tamagaki, Ryozo

    2004-01-01

    For neutron stars with hyperon-mixed cores, neutrino emissivity is studied using the properties of neutron star matter determined under the equation of state, which is obtained by introducing a repulsive three-body force universal for all the baryons so as to assure the maximum mass of neutron stars compatible with observations. The case without a meson condensate is treated. We choose the inputs provided by nuclear physics, with a reliable allowance. Paying attention to the density dependence of the critical temperatures of the baryon superfluids, which reflect the nature of the baryon-baryon interaction and control neutron star cooling, we show what neutrino emission processes are efficient in regions both with and without hyperon mixing. By comparing the calculated emissivities with respect to densities, we can conclude that at densities lower than about 4 times the nuclear density, the Cooper-pair process arising from the neutron 3 P 2 superfluid dominates, while at higher densities the hyperon direct Urca process dominates. For the hyperon direct Urca process to be a candidate responsible for rapid cooling compatible with observations, a moderately large energy gap of the Λ-particle 1 S 0 superfluid is required to suppress its large emissivity. The implications of these results are discussed in the relation to thermal evolution of neutron stars. (author)

  14. Breaking strain of neutron star crust and gravitational waves.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horowitz, C J; Kadau, Kai

    2009-05-15

    Mountains on rapidly rotating neutron stars efficiently radiate gravitational waves. The maximum possible size of these mountains depends on the breaking strain of the neutron star crust. With multimillion ion molecular dynamics simulations of Coulomb solids representing the crust, we show that the breaking strain of pure single crystals is very large and that impurities, defects, and grain boundaries only modestly reduce the breaking strain to around 0.1. Because of the collective behavior of the ions during failure found in our simulations, the neutron star crust is likely very strong and can support mountains large enough so that their gravitational wave radiation could limit the spin periods of some stars and might be detectable in large-scale interferometers. Furthermore, our microscopic modeling of neutron star crust material can help analyze mechanisms relevant in magnetar giant flares and microflares.

  15. Kaon Condensation in Neutron Stars and High Density Behaviour of Nuclear Symmetry Energy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kubis, S.; Kutschera, M.

    1999-01-01

    We study the influence of a high density behaviour of the nuclear symmetry energy on a kaon condensation in neutron stars. We find that the symmetry energy typical for several realistic nuclear potentials, which decreases at high densities, inhibits kaon condensation for weaker kaon-nucleon couplings at any density. There exists a threshold coupling above which the kaon condensate forms at densities exceeding some critical value. This is in contrast to the case of rising symmetry energy, as e.g. for relativistic mean field models, when the kaon condensate can form for any coupling at a sufficiently high density. Properties of the condensate are also different in both cases. (author)

  16. Kaon Condensation in Neutron Stars and High Density Behaviour of Nuclear Symmetry Energy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kubis, S.; Kutschera, M.

    1999-04-01

    We study the influence of a high density behaviour of the nuclear symmetry energy on a kaon condensation in neutron stars. We find that the symmetry energy typical for several realistic nuclear potentials, which decreases at high densities, inhibits kaon condensation for weaker kaon-nucleon couplings at any density. There exists a threshold coupling above which the kaon condensate forms at densities exceeding some critical value. This is in contrast to the case of rising symmetry energy, as e.g. for relativistic mean field models, when the kaon condensate can form for any coupling at a sufficiently high density. Properties of the condensate are also different in both cases

  17. Studies of neutron emission from relativistic nuclear interactions

    CERN Document Server

    Guo, S L; Wang, Y L; Guo, H Y; Sá Ben-Hao; Zheng, Y M; Brandt, R; Vater, P; Wan, J S; Ochs, M; Kulakov, B A; Sosnin, A N; Krivopustov, M I; Butsev, V S; Bradnova, V

    1999-01-01

    Studies were carried out on the yields and spatial distributions of secondary neutrons produced in the relativistic nuclear interactions of 1.5 GeV to 14.4 GeV projectiles p, d and alpha-particles with targets Pb and U/Pb. CR-39 track detectors were used to measure the neutrons. It shows that: (1) Secondary neutrons are produced in the whole length of Pb or U targets having a thickness of 20 cm. The neutron intensities produced by proton bombardments are reduced along the proton beam direction in the targets. The higher the energy of protons, the lower the reduction rate of the neutrons. The reduction rate of neutrons in U target is higher than in Pb target for the same energy of protons. (2) The radial intensities of neutrons decrease as the distance increases from the target central line. (3) The neutron yield in U target by proton bombardments is approx 55% higher than in Pb target. (4) The ratio of neutron yield by 14.4 GeV alpha to 7.3 GeV d bombardment in Pb target is 1.74+-0.20.

  18. The Case of the Neutron Star With a Wayward Wake

    Science.gov (United States)

    2006-06-01

    A long observation with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has revealed important new details of a neutron star that is spewing out a wake of high-energy particles as it races through space. The deduced location of the neutron star on the edge of a supernova remnant, and the peculiar orientation of the neutron star wake, pose mysteries that remain unresolved. "Like a kite flying in the wind, the behavior of this neutron star and its wake tell us what sort of gas it must be plowing through," said Bryan Gaensler of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) in Cambridge, Mass., and lead author of a paper accepted to The Astrophysical Journal. "Yet we're still not sure how the neutron star got to its present location." Animation: Sequence of images of J0617 in IC 443 Animation: Sequence of images of J0617 in IC 443 The neutron star, known as CXOU J061705.3+222127, or J0617 for short, appears to lie near the outer edge of an expanding bubble of hot gas associated with the supernova remnant IC 443. Presumably, J0617 was created at the time of the supernova -- approximately 30,000 years ago -- and propelled away from the site of the explosion at about 500,000 miles per hour. However, the neutron star's wake is oriented almost perpendicularly to the direction expected if the neutron star were moving away from the center of the supernova remnant. This apparent misalignment had previously raised doubts about the association of the speeding neutron star with the supernova remnant. Gaensler and his colleagues provide strong evidence that J0617 was indeed born in the same explosion that created the supernova remnant. First, the shape of the neutron star's wake indicates it is moving a little faster than the speed of sound in Composite Images of SNR IC 443 Composite Images of SNR IC 443 the remnant's multimillion-degree gas. The velocity that one can then calculate from this conclusion closely matches the predicted pace of the neutron star. In contrast, if the neutron

  19. Spectral representations of neutron-star equations of state

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lindblom, Lee

    2010-01-01

    Methods are developed for constructing spectral representations of cold (barotropic) neutron-star equations of state. These representations are faithful in the sense that every physical equation of state has a representation of this type and conversely every such representation satisfies the minimal thermodynamic stability criteria required of any physical equation of state. These spectral representations are also efficient, in the sense that only a few spectral coefficients are generally required to represent neutron-star equations of state quiet accurately. This accuracy and efficiency is illustrated by constructing spectral fits to a large collection of 'realistic' neutron-star equations of state.

  20. Topics in the theory of neutron star cooling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Duncan, R.C. Jr.

    1986-01-01

    The author calculates the neutrino emissivity of interacting, degenerate quark matter, which may make up the dense cores of neutron stars. QCD interactions between quarks are included to first order. The author shows that when massive s-quarks are present in cold quark matter, electrons are not present in equilibrium at densities above a threshold electron extinction density n/sub ex/. This results in a much lower neutrino emissivity epsilon/sub nu/ at high densities than has been previously calculated. Dependences of epsilon/sub nu/ on the strange quark mass m/sub s/ and the QCD coupling constant a/sub c/ are determined for a quark liquid in β-equilibrium. Implications of these calculations for neutron-star cooling are briefly discussed. Eventually, it is shown that neutrino momentum effects may be ignored in neutron star cooling calculations without significant error, even when high-density quark-matter cores are present. Finally considered is the very early cooling epoch, lasting up to ∼1 minutes after formation, when a neutron star is optically thick to neutrinos. It is shown that the coupled equations of neutrino and photon transport in the atmosphere of a sufficiently hot, nascent neutron star do not admit hydrostatic solutions

  1. UPPER LIMITS ON THE RATES OF BINARY NEUTRON STAR AND NEUTRON STAR-BLACK HOLE MERGERS FROM ADVANCED LIGO'S FIRST OBSERVING RUN

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Abbott, B. P.; Abbott, R.; Abbott, T. D.; Abernathy, M. R.; Acernese, E.; Ackley, K.; Adams, C.; Phythian-Adams, A.T.; Addesso, P.; Adhikari, R. X.; Adya, V. B.; Affeldt, C.; Agathos, M.; Agatsuma, K.; Aggarwal, N.T.; Aguiar, O. D.; Aiello, L.; Ain, A.; Ajith, P.; Allen, B.; Allocca, A.; Altin, P. A.; Anderson, S. B.; Anderson, W. G.; Arai, K.; Araya, M. C.; Arceneaux, C. C.; Areeda, J. S.; Arnaud, N.; Arun, K. G.; Ascenzi, S.; Ashton, G.; Ast, M.; Aston, S. M.; Astone, P.; Aufmuth, P.; Aulbert, C.; Babak, S.; Bacon, P.; Bader, M. K. M.; Baker, P. T.; Baldaccini, F.; Ballardin, G.; Ballmer, S. W.; Barayoga, J. C.; Barclay, S. E.; Barish, B. C.; Barker, R.D.; Barone, E.; Barr, B.; Barsotti, L.; Barsuglia, M.; Barta, D.; Bartlett, J.; Bartos, I.; Bassiri, R.; Basti, A.; Batch, J. C.; Baune, C.; Bavigadda, V.; Bazzan, M.; Bejger, M.; Bell, A. S.; Berger, B. K.; Bergmann, G.; Berry, C. P. L.; Bersanetti, D.; Bertolini, A.; Betzwieser, J.; Bhagwat, S.; Bhandare, R.; Bilenko, I. A.; Billingsley, G.; Birch, M.J.; Birney, R.; Biscans, S.; Bisht, A.; Bitossi, M.; Biwer, C.; Bizouard, M. A.; Blackburn, J. K.; Blair, C. D.; Blair, D. G.; Blair, R. M.; Bloemen, A.L.S.; Bock, O.; Boer, M.; Bogaert, J.G.; Bogan, C.; Bohe, A.; Bond, T.C; Bondu, F.; Bonnand, R.; Boom, B. A.; Bork, R.; Boschi, V.; Bose, S.; Bouffanais, Y.; Bozzi, A.; Bradaschia, C.; Brady, P. R.; Braginsky, V. B.; Branchesi, M.; Brau, J. E.; Briant, T.; Brillet, A.; Brinkmann, M.; Brisson, V.; Brockill, P.; Broida, J. E.; Brooks, A. F.; Brown, A.D.; Brown, D.; Brown, N. M.; Brunett, S.; Buchanan, C. C.; Buikema, A.; Bulik, T.; Bulten, H. J.; Buonanno, A.; Buskulic, D.; Buy, C.; Byer, R. L.; Cabero, M.; Cadonati, L.; Cagnoli, G.; Cahillane, C.; Calderon Bustillo, J.; Callister, T. A.; Calloni, E.; Camp, J. B.; Cannon, K. C.; Cao, J.; Capano, C. D.; Capocasa, E.; Carbognani, F.; Caride, S.; Casanueva Diaz, J.; Casentini, C.; Caudill, S.; Cavaglia, M.; Cavalier, F.; Cavalieri, R.; Cella, G.; Cepeda, C. B.; Cerboni Baiardi, L.; Cerretani, G.; Cesarini, E.; Chamberlin, S. J.; Chan, M.; Chao, D. S.; Chen, Y; Chassande-Mottin, E.; Cheeseboro, B. D.; Chen, H. Y.; Chen, Y; Cheng, C.; Chincarini, A.; Chiummo, A.; Cho, H. S.; Cho, M.; Chow, J. H.; Christensen, N.; Chu, Qian; Chua, S. E.; Chung, E.S.; Ciani, G.; Clara, E.; Clark, J. A.; Cleva, E.; Coccia, E.; Cohadon, P. -E; Colla, A.; Collette, C. G.; Cominsky, L.; Constancio, M., Jr.; Conte, A.; Conti, L.; Cook, D.; Corbitt, T. R.; Cornish, N.; Corsi, A.; Cortese, S.; Costa, A.C.; Coughlin, M. W.; Coughlin, S. B.; Coulon, J. -P.; Countryman, S. T.; Couvares, P.; Cowan, E. E.; Coward, D. M.; Cowart, M. J.; Coyne, D. C.; Coyne, R.; Craig, K.; Creighton, J. D. E.; Cripe, J.; Crowder, S. G.; Cumming, A.; Cunningham, A.L.; Cuoco, E.; Dal Canton, T.; Danilishin, S. L.; D'Antonio, S.; Danzmann, K.; Darman, N. S.; Dasgupta, A.; Da Silva Costa, C. F.; Dattilo, V.; Dave, I.; Davier, M.; Davies, G. S.; Daw, E. J.; Day, R.; De, S.; Debra, D.; Debreczeni, G.; Degallaix, J.; De laurentis, M.; Deleglise, S.; Del Pozzo, W.; Denker, T.; Dent, T.; Dergachev, V.A.; Rosa, R.; DeRosa, R. T.; DeSalvo, R.; Devine, R. C.; Dhurandhar, S.; Diaz, M. C.; Di Fiore, L.; Giovanni, M.G.; Di Girolamo, T.; Di Lieto, A.; Di Pace, S.; Di Palma, I.; Di Virgilio, A.; Dolique, V.; Donovan, F.; Dooley, K. L.; Doravari, S.; Douglas, R.; Downes, T. P.; Drago, M.; Drever, R. W. P.; Driggers, J. C.; Ducrot, M.; Dwyer, S. E.; Edo, T. B.; Edwards, M. C.; Effler, A.; Eggenstein, H. -B.; Ehrens, P.; Eichholz, J.; Eikenberry, S. S.; Engels, W.; Essick, R. C.; Etzel, T.; Evans, T. M.; Evans, T. M.; Everett, R.; Factourovich, M.; Fafone, V.; Fair, H.; Fairhurst, S.; Fan, X.M.; Fang, Q.; Farinon, S.; Farr, B.; Farr, W. M.; Favata, M.; Fays, M.; Fehrmann, H.; Fejer, M. M.; Fenyvesi, E.; Ferrante, I.; Ferreira, E. C.; Ferrini, F.; Fidecaro, F.; Fiori, I.; Fiorucci, D.; Fisher, R. P.; Flaminio, R.; Fletcher, M; Fournier, J. -D.; Frasca, S.; Frasconi, F.; Frei, Z.; Freise, A.; Frey, R.; Frey, V.; Fritschel, P.; Frolov, V. V.; Fulda, P.; Fyffe, M.; Gabbard, H. A. G.; Gair, J. R.; Gammaitoni, L.; Gaonkar, S. G.; Garunfi, E.; Gaur, G.; Gehrels, N.; Gemme, G.; Geng, P.; Genin, E.; Gennai, A.; George, J.; Gergely, L.; Germain, V.; Ghosh, Abhirup; Ghosh, Archisman; Ghosh, S.; Giaime, J. A.; Giardina, K. D.; Giazotto, A.; Gill, K.P.; Glaefke, A.; Goetz, E.; Goetz, R.; Gondan, L.; Gonzalez, R.G.; Gonzalez Castro, J. M.; Gopakumar, A.; Gordon, N. A.; Gorodetsky, M. L.; Gossan, S. E.; Lee-Gosselin, M.; Gouaty, R.; Grado, A.; Graef, C.; Graff, P. B.; Granata, M.; Grant, A.; Gras, S.; Gray, C.M.; Greco, G.; Green, A. C.; Groot, P.; Grote, H.; Grunewald, S.; Guidi, G. M.; Guo, X.; Gupta, A.; Gupta, M. K.; Gushwa, K. E.; Gustafson, E. K.; Gustafson, R.; Hacker, J. J.; Buffoni-Hall, R.; Hall, E. D.; Hammond, G.L.; Haney, M.; Hanke, M. M.; Hanks, J.; Hanna, C.; Hannam, M. D.; Hanson, P.J.; Hardwick, T.; Harms, J.; Harry, G. M.; Harry, I. W.; Hart, M. J.; Hartman, M. T.; Haster, C. -J.; Haughian, K.; Heidmann, A.; Heintze, M. C.; Heitmann, H.; Hello, P.; Hemming, G.; Hendry, M.; Heng, I. S.; Hennig, J.; Henry, J.A.; Heptonstall, A. W.; Heurs, M.; Hild, S.; Hoak, D.; Hofman, D.; Holt, K.; Holz, D. E.; Hopkins, P.; Hough, J.; Houston, E. A.; Howell, E. J.; Hu, Y. M.; Huang, S.; Huerta, E. A.; Huet, D.; Hughey, B.; Husa, S.; Huttner, S. H.; Huynh-Dinh, T.; Indik, N.; Ingram, D. R.; Inta, R.; Isa, H. N.; Isac, J. -M.; Isi, M.; Isogai, T.; Iyer, B. R.; Izumi, K.; Jacqmin, T.; Jang, D.H.; Jani, K.; Jaranowski, P.; Jawahar, S.; Jian, L.; Jimenez-Forteza, E.; Johnson, W.; Jones, I.D.; Jones, R.; Jonker, R. J. G.; Ju, L.; Haris, K.; Kalaghatgi, C. V.; Kalogera, V.; Kandhasamy, S.; Kang, G.H.; Kanner, J. B.; Kapadia, S. J.; Karki, S.; Karvinen, K. S.; Kasprzack, M.; Katsavounidis, E.; Katzman, W.; Kaufer, S.; Kaur, T.; Kawabe, K.; Kefelian, F.; Kehl, M. S.; Keitel, D.; Kelley, D. B.; Kells, W.; Kennedy, R.E.; Key, J. S.; Khalili, F. Y.; Khan, I.; Khan., S.; Khan, Z.; Khazanov, E. A.; Kusunchoo, N.; Kim, Chi-Woong; Kim, Chunglee; Kim, J.; Kim, K.; Kim, Namjun; Kim, W.; Kim, Y.M.; Kimbrell, S. J.; King, E. J.; King, P. J.; Kissel, J. S.; Klein, B.; Kleybolte, L.; Klimenko, S.; Koehlenbeck, S. M.; Koley, S.; Kondrashov, V.; Kontos, A.; Korobko, M.; Korth, W. Z.; Kowalska, I.; Kozak, D. B.; Kringel, V.; Krishnan, B.; Krolak, A.; Krueger, C.; Kuehn, G.; Kumar, P.; Kumar, R.; Kuo, L.; Kutynia, A.; Lackey, B. D.; Landry, M.; Lange, J.; Lantz, B.; Lasky, P. D.; Laxen, M.; Lazzarini, A.; Lazzar, C.; Leaci, P.; Leavey, S.; Lebigot, E. O.; Lee, C.H.; Lee, K.H.; Lee, M.H.; Lee, K.; Lenon, A.; Leonardi, M.; Leong, J. R.; Leroy, N.; Letendre, N.; Levin, Y.; Lewis, J. B.; Li, T. G. F.; Libson, A.; Littenberg, T. B.; Lockerbie, N. A.; Lombardi, A. L.; London, L. T.; Lord, J. E.; Lorenzini, M.; Loriette, V.; Lormand, M.; Losurdo, G.; Lough, J. D.; Luck, H.; Lundgren, A. P.; Lynch, R.; Ma, Y.; Machenschalk, B.; MacInnis, M.; Macleod, D. M.; Magana-Sandoval, F.; Zertuche, L. Magana; Magee, R. M.; Majorana, E.; Maksimovic, I.; Malvezzi, V.; Man, N.; Mandic, V.; Mangano, V.; Mansell, G. L.; Manske, M.; Mantovani, M.; Marchesoni, E.; Marion, F.; Marka, S.; Marka, Z.; Markosyan, A. S.; Maros, E.; Martelli, E.; Martellini, L.; Martin, I. W.; Martynov, D. V.; Marx, J. N.; Mason, K.; Masserot, A.; Massinger, T. J.; Masso-Reid, M.; Mastrogiovanni, S.; Matichard, F.; Matone, L.; Mavalvala, N.; Mazumder, N.; McCarthy, R.; McClelland, D. E.; McCormick, S.; McGuire, S. C.; McIntyre, G.; McIver, J.; McManus, D. J.; McRae, T.; McWilliams, S. T.; Meacher, D.; Meadors, G. D.; Meidam, J.; Melatos, A.; Mendell, G.; Mercer, R. A.; Merilh, E. L.; Merzougui, M.; Meshkov, S.; Messenger, C.; Messick, C.; Metzdorff, R.; Meyers, P. M.; Mezzani, F.; Miao, H.; Michel, C.; Middleton, H.; Mikhailov, E. E.; Milano, L.; Miller, A. L.; Miller, A. L.; Miller, B.; Miller, J.; Millhouse, M.; Minenkov, Y.; Ming, J.; Mirshekari, S.; Mishra, C.; Mitra, S.; Mitrofanov, V. P.; Mitselmakher, G.; Mittleman, R.; Moggi, A.; Mohan, M.; Mohapatra, S. R. P.; Montani, M.; Moore, B.C.; Moore, J.C.; Moraru, D.; Gutierrez Moreno, M.; Morriss, S. R.; Mossavi, K.; Mours, B.; Mow-Lowry, C. M.; Mueller, G.; Muir, A. W.; Mukherjee, Arunava; Mukherjee, S.D.; Mukherjee, S.; Mukund, N.; Mullavey, A.; Munch, J.; Murphy, D. J.; Murray, P.G.; Mytidis, A.; Nardecchia, I.; Naticchioni, L.; Nayak, R. K.; Nedkova, K.; Nelemans, G.; Nelson, T. J. N.; Gutierrez-Neri, M.; Neunzert, A.; Newton-Howes, G.; Nguyen, T. T.; Nielsen, A. B.; Nissanke, S.; Nitz, A.; Nocera, F.; Nolting, D.; Normandin, M. E. N.; Nuttall, L. K.; Oberling, J.; Ochsner, E.; O'Deill, J.; Oelker, E.; Ogin, G. H.; Oh, J.; Oh, S. H.; Ohme, F.; Oliver, M. B.; Oppermann, P.; Oram, Richard J.; O'Reilly, B.; O'Shaughnessy, R.; Ottaway, D. J.; Overmier, H.; Owen, B. J.; Pai, A.; Pai, S. A.; Palamos, J. R.; Palashov, O.; Palomba, C.; Pal-Singh, A.; Pan, H.; Pankow, C.; Pannarale, F.; Pant, B. C.; Paoletti, E.; Paoli, A.; Papa, M. A.; Paris, H. R.; Parker, W.S; Pascucci, D.; Pasqualetti, A.; Passahieti, R.; Passuello, D.; Patricelli, B.; Patrick, Z.; Pearlstone, B. L.; Pedraza, M.; Pedurand, R.; Pekowsky, L.; Pele, A.; Penn, S.; Perreca, A.; Perri, L. M.; Phelps, M.; Piccinni, O. J.; Pichot, M.; Piergiovanni, F.; Pierro, V.; Pillant, G.; Pinard, L.; Pinto, I. M.; Pitkin, M.; Poe, M.; Poggiani, R.; Popolizio, P.; Post, A.; Powell, J.; Prasad, J.; Predoi, V.; Prestegard, T.; Price, L. R.; Prijatelj, M.; Principe, M.; Privitera, S.; Prix, R.; Prodi, G. A.; Proxhorov, L.; Puncken, O.; Punturo, M.; Puppo, P.; Purrer, M.; Qi, H.; Qin, J.; Qiu, S.; Quetschke, V.; Quintero, E. A.; Quitzow-James, R.; Raab, E. J.; Rabeling, D. S.; Radkins, H.; Raffai, P.; Raja, S.; Rajan, C.; Rakhmanov, M.; Rapagnani, P.; Raymond, V.; Razzano, M.; Re, V.; Read, J.; Reed, C. M.; Regimbau, T.; Rei, L.; Reid, S.; Reitze, D. H.; Rew, H.; Reyes, S. D.; Ricci, F.; Riles, K.; Rizzo, D.M.; Robertson, N. A.; Robie, R.; Robinet, F.; Rocchi, A.; Rolland, L.; Rollins, J. G.; Roma, V. J.; Romano, R.; Romanov, G.; Romie, J. H.; Rosinska, D.; Rowan, S.; Rudiger, A.; Ruggi, P.; Ryan, K.A.; Sachdev, P.S.; Sadecki, T.; Sadeghian, L.; Sakellariadou, M.; Salconi, L.; Saleem, M.; Salemi, F.; Samajdar, A.; Sammut, L.; Sanchez, E. J.; Sandberg, V.; Sandeen, B.; Sanders, J. R.; Sassolas, B.; Sathyaprakash, B. S.; Saulson, P. R.; Sauter, O. E. S.; Savage, R. L.; Sawadsky, A.; Schale, P.; Schilling, R.; Schmidt, J; Schmidt, P.; Schnabel, R.B.; Schofield, R. M. S.; Schonbecx, A.; Schreiber, K.E.C.; Schuette, D.; Schutz, B. F.; Scott, J.; Scott, M.S.; Sellers, D.; Sengupta, A. S.; Sentenac, D.; Sequino, V.; Sergeev, A.; Setyawati, Y.; Shaddock, D. A.; Shaffer, T. J.; Shahriar, M. S.; Shaltevi, M.; Shapiro, B.; Shawhan, P.; Sheperd, A.; Shoemaker, D. H.; Shoemaker, D. M.; Siellez, K.; Siemens, X.; Sieniawska, M.; Sigg, D.; Silva, António Dias da; Singer, A; Singer, L. P.; Singh, A.; Singh, R.; Singhal, A.; Sintes, A. M.; Slagmolen, B. J. J.; Smith, R. J. E.; Smith, N.D.; Smith, R. J. E.; Son, E. J.; Sorazu, B.; Sorrentino, F.; Souradeep, T.; Srivastava, A. K.; Staley, A.; Steinke, M.; Steinlechner, J.; Steinlechner, S.; Steinmeyer, D.; Stephens, B. C.; Stone, J.R.; Strain, K. A.; Straniero, N.; Stratta, G.; Strauss, N. A.; Strigin, S. E.; Sturani, R.; Stuver, A. L.; Summerscales, T. Z.; Sun, L.; Sunil, S.; Sutton, P. J.; Swinkels, B. L.; Szczepanczyk, M. J.; Tacca, M.D.; Talukder, D.; Tanner, D. B.; Tapai, M.; Tarabrin, S. P.; Taracchini, A.; Taylor, W.R.; Theeg, T.; Thirugnanasambandam, M. P.; Thomas, E. G.; Thomas, M.; Thomas, P.; Thorne, K. A.; Thrane, E.; Tiwari, S.; Tiwari, V.; Toxmakov, K. V.; Toland, K.; Tomlinson, C.; Tonelli, M.; Tornasi, Z.; Torres, C. V.; Torrie, C. I.; Toyra, D.; Travasso, F.; Traylor, G.; Trifiro, D.; Tringali, M. C.; Trozzo, L.; Tse, M.; Turconi, M.; Tuyenbayev, D.; Ugolini, D.; Unnikrishnan, C. S.; Urban, A. L.; Usman, S. A.; Vahlbruch, H.; Vajente, G.; Valdes, G.; van Bakel, N.; van Beuzekom, M.G.; van den Brand, J. E. J.; Van Den Broeck, C.F.F.; Vander-Hyde, D. C.; van der Schaaf, L.; van Heuningen, J. V.; van Veggel, A. A.; Vardaro, M.; Vass, S.; Vasuth, M.; Vaulin, R.; Vecchio, A.; Vedovato, G.; Veitch, J.; Veitch, P.J.; Venkateswara, K.; Verkindt, D.; Vetrano, E.; Vicere, A.; Vinciguerra, S.; Vine, D. J.; Vinet, J. -Y.; Vitale, S.; Vo, T.; Vocca, H.; Vorvick, C.; Voss, D. V.; Vousden, W. D.; Vyatchanin, S. P.; Wade, A. R.; Wade, L. E.; Wade, MT; Walker, M.; Wallace, L.; Walsh, S.; Wang, G.; Wang, H.; Wang, M.; Wang, X.; Wang, Y.; Ward, R. L.; Warner, J.; Was, M.; Weaver, B.; Wei, L. -W.; Weinert, M.; Weinstein, A. J.; Weiss, R.; Wen, L.M.; Wessels, P.; Westphal, T.; Wette, K.; Whelan, J. T.; Whiting, B. F.; Williams, D.R.; Williamson, A. R.; Willis, J. L.; Willke, B.; Wimmer, M. H.; Winkler, W.; Wipf, C. C.; Wittel, H.; Woan, G.; Woehler, J.; Worden, J.; Wright, J.L.; Wu, D.S.; Wu, G.; Yablong, J.; Yam, W.; Yamamoto, H.; Yancey, C. C.; Yu, H.; Yvert, M.; Zadrozny, A.; Zangrando, L.; Zanolin, M.; Zendri, J. -P.; Zevin, M.; Zhang, L.; Zhang, M.; Zhang, Y.; Zhao, C.; Zhou, M.; Zhou, Z.; Zhu, X. J.; Zucker, M. E.; Zuraw, S. E.; Zweizig, J.

    2016-01-01

    We report here the non-detection of gravitational waves from the merger of binary-neutron star systems and neutron star-black hole systems during the first observing run of the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO). In particular, we searched for gravitational-wave

  2. Hard X ray lines from neutron stars

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Polcaro, V.F.; Bazzano, A.; La Padula, C.; Ubertini, P.

    1982-01-01

    Experimental evidence is presented and evaluated concerning the features of the hard X-ray spectra detected in a number of cosmic X-ray sources which contain a neutron star. The strong emission line at cyclotron resonance detected in the spectrum of Her XI at an energy of 58 keV is evaluated and the implications of this finding are discussed. Also examined is the presence of spectral features in the energy range 20-80 keV found in the spectra of gamma-ray bursts, which have been interpreted as cyclotron resonance from interstellar-gas-accreting neutron stars. The less understood finding of a variable emission line at approximately 70 keV in the spectrum of the Crab Pulsar is considered. It is determined that several features varying with time are present in the spectra of cosmic X-ray sources associated with neutron stars. If these features are due to cyclotron resonance, it is suggested that they provide a direct measurement of neutron star magnetic fields on the order of 10 to the 11th-10 to the 13th Gauss. However, the physical condition of the emitting region and its geometry are still quite obscure.

  3. Type-I superconductivity and neutron star precession

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sedrakian, Armen

    2005-01-01

    Type-I proton superconducting cores of neutron stars break up in a magnetic field into alternating domains of superconducting and normal fluids. We examine two channels of superfluid-normal fluid friction where (i) rotational vortices are decoupled from the nonsuperconducting domains and the interaction is due to the strong force between protons and neutrons; (ii) the nonsuperconducting domains are dynamically coupled to the vortices and the vortex motion generates transverse electric fields within them, causing electronic current flow and Ohmic dissipation. The obtained dissipation coefficients are consistent with the Eulerian precession of neutron stars

  4. PREFACE: 2nd International Symposium on the Modern Physics of Compact Stars and Relativistic Gravity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edvard Chubaryan, Professor; Aram Saharian, Professor; Armen Sedrakian, Professor

    2014-03-01

    The international conference ''The Modern Physics of Compact Stars and Relativistic Gravity'' took place in Yerevan, Armenia, from 18-21 September 2013. This was the second in a series of conferences which aim to bring together people working in astrophysics of compact stars, physics of dense matter, gravitation and cosmology, observations of pulsars and binary neutron stars and related fields. The conference was held on the occasion of 100th birthday of the founder of the Theoretical Physics Chair at the Department of Physics of Yerevan State University and prominent Armenian scientist Academician Gurgen S Sahakyan. The field of compact stars has seen extraordinary development since the discovery of pulsars in 1967. Even before this discovery, pioneering work of a number of theoretical groups had laid the foundation for this development. A pioneer of this effort was Professor G S Sahakyan who, together with Professor Victor Ambartsumyan and a group of young scientists, started in the early sixties their fundamental work on the properties of superdense matter and on the relativistic structure of compact stellar objects. This conference explored the vast diversity of the manifestations of compact stars, including the modern aspects of the equation of state of superdense matter, its magnetic and thermal properties, rotational dynamics, superfluidity and superconductivity, phase transition from hadronic to quark matter, etc. The articles on these subjects collected in this volume are evidence of liveliness of the field and of the continuous feedback between theory and the experiment. A part of this volume is devoted to the cosmology and the theories of gravity — the subfields of astrophysics that are of fundamental importance to our understanding of the universe. The reader will find here articles touching on the most diverse aspects of these fields such as modern problems in Einstein's classical theory of gravity and its alternatives, string theory motivated

  5. Searching for dark matter with neutron star mergers and quiet kilonovae

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bramante, Joseph; Linden, Tim; Tsai, Yu-Dai

    2018-03-01

    We identify new astrophysical signatures of dark matter that implodes neutron stars (NSs), which could decisively test whether NS-imploding dark matter is responsible for missing pulsars in the Milky Way galactic center, the source of some r -process elements, and the origin of fast-radio bursts. First, NS-imploding dark matter forms ˜10-10 solar mass or smaller black holes inside neutron stars, which proceed to convert neutron stars into ˜1.5 solar mass black holes (BHs). This decreases the number of neutron star mergers seen by LIGO/Virgo (LV) and associated merger kilonovae seen by telescopes like DES, BlackGEM, and ZTF, instead producing a population of "black mergers" containing ˜1.5 solar mass black holes. Second, dark matter-induced neutron star implosions may create a new kind of kilonovae that lacks a detectable, accompanying gravitational signal, which we call "quiet kilonovae." Using DES data and the Milky Way's r-process abundance, we constrain quiet kilonovae. Third, the spatial distribution of neutron star merger kilonovae and quiet kilonovae in galaxies can be used to detect dark matter. NS-imploding dark matter destroys most neutron stars at the centers of disc galaxies, so that neutron star merger kilonovae would appear mostly in a donut at large radii. We find that as few as ten neutron star merger kilonova events, located to ˜1 kpc precision could validate or exclude dark matter-induced neutron star implosions at 2 σ confidence, exploring dark matter-nucleon cross-sections 4-10 orders of magnitude below current direct detection experimental limits. Similarly, NS-imploding dark matter as the source of fast radio bursts can be tested at 2 σ confidence once 20 bursts are located in host galaxies by radio arrays like CHIME and HIRAX.

  6. Eigenmode frequency distribution of rapidly rotating neutron stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boutloukos, Stratos; Nollert, Hans-Peter

    2007-01-01

    We use perturbation theory and the relativistic Cowling approximation to numerically compute characteristic oscillation modes of rapidly rotating relativistic stars which consist of a perfect fluid obeying a polytropic equation of state. We present a code that allows the computation of modes of arbitrary order. We focus here on the overall distribution of frequencies. As expected, we find an infinite pressure mode spectrum extending to infinite frequency. In addition we obtain an infinite number of inertial mode solutions confined to a finite, well-defined frequency range which depends on the compactness and the rotation frequency of the star. For nonaxisymmetric modes we observe how this range is shifted with respect to the axisymmetric ones, moving towards negative frequencies and thus making all m>2 modes unstable. We discuss whether our results indicate that the star's spectrum must have a continuous part, as opposed to simply containing an infinite number of discrete modes

  7. Unveiling the equation of state of nuclear matter with binary neutron stars

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Galeazzi, F.; Rezzolla, L. [Frankfurt Univ., Frankfurt am Main (Germany). Inst. for Theoretical Physics

    2016-11-01

    the electromagnetic counterparts of these events, will shed some light on the engine that powers short gamma ray bursts. The properties of matter at the ultra high densities and low temperatures reached inside neutron stars cannot be observed in a conventional laboratory on Earth and for this reason accurate GW astronomy is a unique opportunity to constraint the current knowledge of the equation of state that describes these regimes. But GWs are not the only observable that can be linked to the equation of state of neutron star matter, during the violent merger of two neutron stars large amount of neutron rich material is ejected leading to the creation of heavy elements. While undergoing radioactive decay, these elements emit in near-infrared and optical bands of the electromagnetic spectrum. The characteristics of these emissions are strongly affected by the composition, temperature and total mass of the dynamically ejected material and for this reason we have developed a series of cutting-edge methods to simulate in full general relativity the inspiral, merger and collapse including relativistic hydrodynamics, the use of nuclear finite-temperature equations of state and an approximate treatment of neutrino emission and absorption. Such simulations require the use of computational facilities such as the one at LRZ where we make use of thousands of CPUs every week for each of our simulations and producing several terabytes of data. This data are processed in situ at the LRZ facility and, for a more detailed analysis, transferred to our local cluster in Frankfurt am Main (LOEWE).

  8. Neutron star natal kicks and the long-term survival of star clusters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Contenta, Filippo; Varri, Anna Lisa; Heggie, Douglas C.

    2015-04-01

    We investigate the dynamical evolution of a star cluster in an external tidal field by using N-body simulations, with focus on the effects of the presence or absence of neutron star natal velocity kicks. We show that, even if neutron stars typically represent less than 2 per cent of the total bound mass of a star cluster, their primordial kinematic properties may affect the lifetime of the system by up to almost a factor of 4. We interpret this result in the light of two known modes of star cluster dissolution, dominated by either early stellar evolution mass-loss or two-body relaxation. The competition between these effects shapes the mass-loss profile of star clusters, which may either dissolve abruptly (`jumping'), in the pre-core-collapse phase, or gradually (`skiing'), after having reached core collapse.

  9. An accurate metric for the spacetime around neutron stars

    OpenAIRE

    Pappas, George

    2016-01-01

    The problem of having an accurate description of the spacetime around neutron stars is of great astrophysical interest. For astrophysical applications, one needs to have a metric that captures all the properties of the spacetime around a neutron star. Furthermore, an accurate appropriately parameterised metric, i.e., a metric that is given in terms of parameters that are directly related to the physical structure of the neutron star, could be used to solve the inverse problem, which is to inf...

  10. Neutron stars with spin polarized self-interacting dark matter

    OpenAIRE

    Rezaei, Zeinab

    2018-01-01

    Dark matter, one of the important portion of the universe, could affect the visible matter in neutron stars. An important physical feature of dark matter is due to the spin of dark matter particles. Here, applying the piecewise polytropic equation of state for the neutron star matter and the equation of state of spin polarized self-interacting dark matter, we investigate the structure of neutron stars which are influenced by the spin polarized self-interacting dark matter. The behavior of the...

  11. Constraining the mass and radius of neutron stars in globular clusters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steiner, A. W.; Heinke, C. O.; Bogdanov, S.; Li, C. K.; Ho, W. C. G.; Bahramian, A.; Han, S.

    2018-05-01

    We analyse observations of eight quiescent low-mass X-ray binaries in globular clusters and combine them to determine the neutron star mass-radius curve and the equation of state of dense matter. We determine the effect that several uncertainties may have on our results, including uncertainties in the distance, the atmosphere composition, the neutron star maximum mass, the neutron star mass distribution, the possible presence of a hotspot on the neutron star surface, and the prior choice for the equation of state of dense matter. The distance uncertainty is implemented in a new Gaussian blurring method that can be directly applied to the probability distribution over mass and radius. We find that the radius of a 1.4 solar mass neutron star is most likely from 10 to 14 km and that tighter constraints are only possible with stronger assumptions about the nature of the neutron stars, the systematics of the observations, or the nature of dense matter. Strong phase transitions in the equation of state are preferred, and in this case, the radius is likely smaller than 12 km. However, radii larger than 12 km are preferred if the neutron stars have uneven temperature distributions.

  12. Kaon condensates, nuclear symmetry energy and cooling of neutron stars

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kubis, S. E-mail: kubis@alf.ifj.edu.pl; Kutschera, M

    2003-06-02

    The cooling of neutron stars by URCA processes in the kaon-condensed neutron star matter for various forms of nuclear symmetry energy is investigated. The kaon-nucleon interactions are described by a chiral Lagrangian. Nuclear matter energy is parametrized in terms of the isoscalar contribution and the nuclear symmetry energy in the isovector sector. High density behaviour of nuclear symmetry energy plays an essential role in determining the composition of the kaon-condensed neutron star matter which in turn affects the cooling properties. We find that the symmetry energy which decreases at higher densities makes the kaon-condensed neutron star matter fully protonized. This effect inhibits strongly direct URCA processes resulting in slower cooling of neutron stars as only kaon-induced URCA cycles are present. In contrast, for increasing symmetry energy direct URCA processes are allowed in the almost whole density range where the kaon condensation exists.

  13. Kaon condensates, nuclear symmetry energy and cooling of neutron stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kubis, S.; Kutschera, M.

    2003-01-01

    The cooling of neutron stars by URCA processes in the kaon-condensed neutron star matter for various forms of nuclear symmetry energy is investigated. The kaon-nucleon interactions are described by a chiral Lagrangian. Nuclear matter energy is parametrized in terms of the isoscalar contribution and the nuclear symmetry energy in the isovector sector. High density behaviour of nuclear symmetry energy plays an essential role in determining the composition of the kaon-condensed neutron star matter which in turn affects the cooling properties. We find that the symmetry energy which decreases at higher densities makes the kaon-condensed neutron star matter fully protonized. This effect inhibits strongly direct URCA processes resulting in slower cooling of neutron stars as only kaon-induced URCA cycles are present. In contrast, for increasing symmetry energy direct URCA processes are allowed in the almost whole density range where the kaon condensation exists

  14. Magnetic collapse of a neutron gas: Can magnetars indeed be formed?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Martinez, A. Perez; Rojas, H. Perez; Cuesta, H.J.M.

    2003-01-01

    A relativistic degenerate neutron gas in equilibrium with a background of electrons and protons in a magnetic field exerts its pressure anisotropically, having a smaller value perpendicular to than along the magnetic field. For critical fields the magnetic pressure may produce the vanishing of the equatorial pressure of the neutron gas. Taking this as a model for neutron stars, the outcome could be a transverse collapse of the star. This fixes a limit to the fields to be observable in stable neutron star pulsars as a function of their density. The final structure left over after the implosion might be a mixed phase of nucleons and a meson condensate, a strange star, or a highly distorted black hole or black ''cigar'', but not a magnetar, if viewed as a superstrongly magnetized neutron star. However, we do not exclude the possibility of superstrong magnetic fields arising in supernova explosions which lead directly to strange stars. In other words, if any magnetars exist, they cannot be neutron stars. (orig.)

  15. Escape of charged particles from a neutron star

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pelizzari, M.A.

    1976-01-01

    The theory of particle trajectories in an axisymmetric magnetic field, formulated by C. Stormer, can be extended to cover conservative force fields as well. As such, it is an ideal tool to study the escape of charged particles from a rapidly rotating neutron star, enabling one to determine the maximum range of their trajectories in space. With the aid of this theory, it is shown that a neutron star, rotating in a vacuum with rotation and magnetic axes aligned, will not evolve a perfectly conducting magnetosphere if the neutron star is the only source of charge. The sign of charge accelerated from the equatorial regions will be magnetically trapped to a toroidal region very near the star, and the opposite sign of charge, emerging from the polar regions, will escape from the magnetosphere until a critical stellar charge is reached, after which polar charges will be electrostatically bound to the magnetosphere. This selective magnetic trapping of one sign of charge, which prevents the formation of a stellar wind, is a consequence of the magnetic field's orientation relative to the internal charge density of the neutron star

  16. Neutron stars at the dark matter direct detection frontier

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raj, Nirmal; Tanedo, Philip; Yu, Hai-Bo

    2018-02-01

    Neutron stars capture dark matter efficiently. The kinetic energy transferred during capture heats old neutron stars in the local galactic halo to temperatures detectable by upcoming infrared telescopes. We derive the sensitivity of this probe in the framework of effective operators. For dark matter heavier than a GeV, we find that neutron star heating can set limits on the effective operator cutoff that are orders of magnitude stronger than possible from terrestrial direct detection experiments in the case of spin-dependent and velocity-suppressed scattering.

  17. Massive disc formation in the tidal disruption of a neutron star by a nearly extremal black hole

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lovelace, Geoffrey; Kidder, Lawrence E; Duez, Matthew D; Foucart, Francois; Pfeiffer, Harald P; Scheel, Mark A; Szilágyi, Béla

    2013-01-01

    Black hole–neutron star (BHNS) binaries are important sources of gravitational waves for second-generation interferometers, and BHNS mergers are also a proposed engine for short, hard gamma-ray bursts. The behavior of both the spacetime (and thus the emitted gravitational waves) and the neutron-star matter in a BHNS merger depend strongly and nonlinearly on the black hole's spin. While there is a significant possibility that astrophysical black holes could have spins that are nearly extremal (i.e. near the theoretical maximum), to date fully relativistic simulations of BHNS binaries have included black-hole spins only up to S/M 2 = 0.9, which corresponds to the black hole having approximately half as much rotational energy as possible, given the black hole's mass. In this paper, we present a new simulation of a BHNS binary with a mass ratio q = 3 and black-hole spin S/M 2 = 0.97, the highest simulated to date. We find that the black hole's large spin leads to the most massive accretion disc and the largest tidal tail outflow of any fully relativistic BHNS simulations to date, even exceeding the results implied by extrapolating results from simulations with lower black-hole spin. The disc appears to be remarkably stable. We also find that the high black-hole spin persists until shortly before the time of merger; afterward, both merger and accretion spin down the black hole. (paper)

  18. Searching for X-ray Pulsations from Neutron Stars Using NICER

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ray, Paul S.; Arzoumanian, Zaven; Gendreau, Keith C.; Bogdanov, Slavko; Bult, Peter; Chakrabarty, Deepto; Chakrabarty, Deepto; Guillot, Sebastien; Harding, Alice; Ho, Wynn C. G.; Lamb, Frederick; Mahmoodifar, Simin; Miller, Cole; Strohmayer, Tod; Wilson-Hodge, Colleen; Wolff, Michael T.; NICER Science Team Working Group on Pulsation Searches and Multiwavelength Coordination

    2018-01-01

    The Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) presents an exciting new capability for discovering new modulation properties of X-ray emitting neutron stars, including large area, low background, extremely precise absolute time stamps, superb low-energy response and flexible scheduling. The Pulsation Searches and Multiwavelength Coordination working group has designed a 2.5 Ms observing program to search for pulsations and characterize the modulation properties of about 30 known or suspected neutron star sources across a number of source categories. A key early goal will be to search for pulsations from millisecond pulsars that might exhibit thermal pulsations from the surface suitable for pulse profile modeling to constrain the neutron star equation of state. In addition, we will search for pulsations from transitional millisecond pulsars, isolated neutron stars, LMXBs, accretion-powered millisecond pulsars, central compact objects and other sources. We present our science plan and initial results from the first months of the NICER mission.

  19. Binary neutron star mergers: a review of Einstein's richest laboratory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baiotti, Luca; Rezzolla, Luciano

    2017-09-01

    In a single process, the merger of binary neutron star systems combines extreme gravity, the copious emission of gravitational waves, complex microphysics and electromagnetic processes, which can lead to astrophysical signatures observable at the largest redshifts. We review here the recent progress in understanding what could be considered Einstein's richest laboratory, highlighting in particular the numerous significant advances of the last decade. Although special attention is paid to the status of models, techniques and results for fully general-relativistic dynamical simulations, a review is also offered on the initial data and advanced simulations with approximate treatments of gravity. Finally, we review the considerable amount of work carried out on the post-merger phase, including black-hole formation, torus accretion onto the merged compact object, the connection with gamma-ray burst engines, ejected material, and its nucleosynthesis.

  20. Non-Identical Neutron Star Twins

    OpenAIRE

    Glendenning, Norman K.; Kettner, Christiane

    1998-01-01

    The work of J. A. Wheeler in the mid 1960's showed that for smooth equations of state no stable stellar configurations with central densities above that corresponding to the limiting mass of ``neutron stars'' (in the generic sense) were stable against acoustical vibrational modes. A perturbation would cause any such star to collapse to a black hole or explode. Accordingly, there has been no reason to expect that a stable degenerate family of stars with higher density than the known white dwar...

  1. Evolution of Neutron Star Magnetic Fields

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    R. Narasimhan (Krishtel eMaging) 1461 1996 Oct 15 13:05:22

    in nuclei. The neutrons are expected to form a 3P superfluid and the protons a 1S ... crust are expected to form a lattice; the electrons are free and highly degenerate, .... the reduced magnetic fields in neutron stars processed in binaries,.

  2. Binary neutron star mergers and short gamma-ray bursts: Effects of magnetic field orientation, equation of state, and mass ratio

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kawamura, Takumu; Giacomazzo, Bruno; Kastaun, Wolfgang; Ciolfi, Riccardo; Endrizzi, Andrea; Baiotti, Luca; Perna, Rosalba

    2016-09-01

    We present fully general-relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations of the merger of binary neutron star (BNS) systems. We consider BNSs producing a hypermassive neutron star (HMNS) that collapses to a spinning black hole (BH) surrounded by a magnetized accretion disk in a few tens of ms. We investigate whether such systems may launch relativistic jets and hence power short gamma-ray bursts. We study the effects of different equations of state (EOSs), different mass ratios, and different magnetic field orientations. For all cases, we present a detailed investigation of the matter dynamics and of the magnetic field evolution, with particular attention to its global structure and possible emission of relativistic jets. The main result of this work is that we observe the formation of an organized magnetic field structure. This happens independently of EOS, mass ratio, and initial magnetic field orientation. We also show that those models that produce a longer-lived HMNS lead to a stronger magnetic field before collapse to a BH. Such larger fields make it possible, for at least one of our models, to resolve the magnetorotational instability and hence further amplify the magnetic field in the disk. However, by the end of our simulations, we do not (yet) observe a magnetically dominated funnel nor a relativistic outflow. With respect to the recent simulations of Ruiz et al. [Astrophys. J. 824, L6 (2016)], we evolve models with lower and more plausible initial magnetic field strengths and (for computational reasons) we do not evolve the accretion disk for the long time scales that seem to be required in order to see a relativistic outflow. Since all our models produce a similar ordered magnetic field structure aligned with the BH spin axis, we expect that the results found by Ruiz et al. (who only considered an equal-mass system with an ideal fluid EOS) should be general and—at least from a qualitative point of view—independent of the mass ratio, magnetic field

  3. Electromagnetic activity of a pulsating paramagnetic neutron star

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bastrukov, S.I.; Podgainy, D.V.; Yang, J.; Weber, F.

    2002-01-01

    The fact that neutron star matter possesses the capability of maintaining a highly intense magnetic field has been and still is among the most debatable issues in pulsar astrophysics. Over the years, there were several independent suggestions that the dominant source of pulsar magnetism is either the field-induced or the spontaneous magnetic polarization of the baryon material. The Pauli paramagnetism of degenerate neutron matter is one of the plausible and comprehensive mechanisms of the magnetic ordering of neutron magnetic moments, promoted by a seed magnetic field inherited by the neutron star from a massive progenitor and amplified by its implosive contraction due to the magnetic flux conservation. Adhering to this attitude and based on the equations of magnetoelastic dynamics underlying continuum mechanics of single-axis magnetic insulators, we investigate electrodynamics of a paramagnetic neutron star undergoing nonradial pulsations. We show that the suggested approach regains a recent finding of Akhiezer et al. that the spin-polarized neutron matter can transmit perturbations by low-frequency transverse magnetoelastic waves. We found that nonradial torsional magnetoelastic pulsations of a paramagnetic neutron star can serve as a powerful generator of a highly intense electric field producing the magnetospheric polarization charge whose acceleration along the open magnetic field lines leads to the synchrotron and curvature radiation. Analytic and numerical estimates for periods of nonradial torsional magnetoelastic modes are presented and are followed by a discussion of their possible manifestation in currently monitored activity of pulsars and magnetars

  4. Gravitational waves from rotating strained neutron stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jones, D I

    2002-01-01

    In this review we examine the dynamics and gravitational wave detectability of rotating strained neutron stars. The discussion is divided into two halves: triaxial stars and precessing stars. We summarize recent studies on how crustal strains and magnetic fields can sustain triaxiality, and suggest that Magnus forces connected with pinned superfluid vortices might contribute to deformation also. The conclusions that could be drawn following the successful gravitational wave detection of a triaxial star are discussed, and areas requiring further study identified. The latest ideas regarding free precession are then outlined, and the recent suggestion of Middleditch et al (Middleditch et al 2000 New Astronomy 5 243; 2000 Preprint astro-ph/0010044) that the remnant of SN1987A contains a freely precessing star, spinning down by gravitational wave energy loss, is examined critically. We describe what we would learn about neutron stars should the gravitational wave detectors prove this hypothesis to be correct

  5. Explosion of a low mass neutron star

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Blinnikov, S.I.; Imshennik, V.S.; Nadyozhin, D.K.; Novikov, I.D.; Polnarev, A.G.; AN SSSR, Moscow. Fizicheskij Inst.); Perevodchikova, T.V.

    1990-01-01

    The hydrodynamical disruption of a low mass neutron star is investigated for the case when the stellar mass becomes smaller than the minimum value, M min ≅0.1 M sun . The final phase of the process is shown to proceed explosively, leading to an expansion of all the star, with a kinetic energy of 4.8 MeV per nucleon. The results of calculations are virtually independent of the way in which the neutron star mass goes down below M min (mass exchange in a close binary stellar system, nucleon decay, or some effective mass loss due to a hypothetical decrease of the gravitational constant). The neutron star disruption is followed by a short (0.01-0.1 s) burst of thermal hard X-rays and soft gamma-rays (kT=10-100 keV) with a subsequent much more prolonged tail of radiation induced by decays of long-lived radioactive nuclides. Some fraction of the explosion energy may be emitted in the form of neutrinos. (orig.)

  6. On the fate of superheavy magnetic monopoles in a neutron star

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kuzmin, V.A.; Rubakov, V.A.; AN SSSR, Moscow. Inst. Yadernykh Issledovanij)

    1983-02-01

    We propose two possible scenarios of the behaviour of superheavy magnetic monopoles in a neutron star, in which the monopole-antimonopole annihilation rate is sufficiently large to prevent the enormous heating of a neutron star due to the monopole induced neutron decays. We find that the galactic monopole flux of order 10 -16 cm -2 s -1 ster -1 can be compatible with the observational limit on the X-ray luminosity of neutron stars. (author)

  7. White Dwarfs, Neutron Stars and Black Holes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Szekeres, P.

    1977-01-01

    The three possible fates of burned-out stars: white dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes, are described in elementary terms. Characteristics of these celestial bodies, as provided by Einstein's work, are described. (CP)

  8. A full general relativistic neutrino radiation-hydrodynamics simulation of a collapsing very massive star and the formation of a black hole

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuroda, Takami; Kotake, Kei; Takiwaki, Tomoya; Thielemann, Friedrich-Karl

    2018-06-01

    We study the final fate of a very massive star by performing full general relativistic (GR), three-dimensional (3D) simulation with three-flavour multi-energy neutrino transport. Utilizing a 70 solar mass zero-metallicity progenitor, we self-consistently follow the radiation-hydrodynamics from the onset of gravitational core-collapse until the second collapse of the proto-neutron star (PNS), leading to black hole (BH) formation. Our results show that the BH formation occurs at a post-bounce time of Tpb ˜ 300 ms for the 70 M⊙ star. This is significantly earlier than those in the literature where lower mass progenitors were employed. At a few ˜10 ms before BH formation, we find that the stalled bounce shock is revived by intense neutrino heating from the very hot PNS, which is aided by violent convection behind the shock. In the context of 3D-GR core-collapse modelling with multi-energy neutrino transport, our numerical results present the first evidence to validate a fallback BH formation scenario of the 70 M⊙ star.

  9. A full general relativistic neutrino radiation-hydrodynamics simulation of a collapsing very massive star and the formation of a black hole

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuroda, Takami; Kotake, Kei; Takiwaki, Tomoya; Thielemann, Friedrich-Karl

    2018-04-01

    We study the final fate of a very massive star by performing full general relativistic (GR), three-dimensional (3D) simulation with three-flavor multi-energy neutrino transport. Utilizing a 70 solar mass zero metallicity progenitor, we self-consistently follow the radiation-hydrodynamics from the onset of gravitational core-collapse until the second collapse of the proto-neutron star (PNS), leading to black hole (BH) formation. Our results show that the BH formation occurs at a post-bounce time of Tpb ˜ 300 ms for the 70 M⊙ star. This is significantly earlier than those in the literature where lower mass progenitors were employed. At a few ˜10 ms before BH formation, we find that the stalled bounce shock is revived by intense neutrino heating from the very hot PNS, which is aided by violent convection behind the shock. In the context of 3D-GR core-collapse modeling with multi-energy neutrino transport, our numerical results present the first evidence to validate a fallback BH formation scenario of the 70M⊙ star.

  10. Entropy density of an adiabatic relativistic Bose-Einstein condensate star

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Khaidir, Ahmad Firdaus; Kassim, Hasan Abu; Yusof, Norhasliza [Theoretical Physics Lab., Department of Physics, Faculty of Science Building, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)

    2015-04-24

    Inspired by recent works, we investigate how the thermodynamics parameters (entropy, temperature, number density, energy density, etc) of Bose-Einstein Condensate star scale with the structure of the star. Below the critical temperature in which the condensation starts to occur, we study how the entropy behaves with varying temperature till it reaches its own stability against gravitational collapse and singularity. Compared to photon gases (pressure is described by radiation) where the chemical potential, μ is zero, entropy of photon gases obeys the Stefan-Boltzmann Law for a small values of T while forming a spiral structure for a large values of T due to general relativity. The entropy density of Bose-Einstein Condensate is obtained following the similar sequence but limited under critical temperature condition. We adopt the scalar field equation of state in Thomas-Fermi limit to study the characteristics of relativistic Bose-Einstein condensate under varying temperature and entropy. Finally, we obtain the entropy density proportional to (σT{sup 3}-3T) which obeys the Stefan-Boltzmann Law in ultra-relativistic condition.

  11. Mass-Radius diagram for compact stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carvalho, G A; Jr, R M Marinho; Malheiro, M

    2015-01-01

    The compact stars represent the final stage in the evolution of ordinary stars, they are formed when a star ceases its nuclear fuel, in this point the process that sustain its stability will stop. After this, the internal pressure can no longer stand the gravitational force and the star colapses [2]. In this work we investigate the structure of these stars which are described by the equations of Tolman-Openheimer-Volkof (TOV) [1]. These equations show us how the pressure varies with the mass and radius of the star. We consider the TOV equations for both relativistic and non-relativistic cases. In the case of compact stars (white dwarfs and neutron stars) the internal pressure that balances the gravitational pressure is essentialy the pressure coming from the degeneracy of fermions. To have solved the TOV equations we need a equation of state that shows how this internal pressure is related to the energy density or mass density. Instead of using politropic equations of state we have solved the equations numericaly using the exact relativistic energy equation for the model of fermion gas at zero temperature. We obtain results for the mass-radius relation for white dwarfs and we compared with the results obtained using the politropic equations of state. In addition we discussed a good fit for the mass-radius relation. (paper)

  12. On the ambiguity in relativistic tidal deformability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gralla, Samuel E.

    2018-04-01

    The LIGO collaboration recently reported the first gravitational-wave constraints on the tidal deformability of neutron stars. I discuss an inherent ambiguity in the notion of relativistic tidal deformability that, while too small to affect the present measurement, may become important in the future. I propose a new way to understand the ambiguity and discuss future prospects for reliably linking observed gravitational waveforms to compact object microphysics.

  13. Signatures of field induced spin polarization of neutron star matter in seismic vibrations of paramagnetic neutron star

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bastrukov, S I; Yang, J; Podgainy, D V; Weber, F

    2003-01-01

    A macroscopic model of the dissipative magneto-elastic dynamics of viscous spin polarized nuclear matter is discussed in the context of seismic activity of a paramagnetic neutron star. The source of the magnetic field of such a star is attributed to Pauli paramagnetism of baryon matter promoted by a seed magnetic field frozen into the star in the process of gravitational collapse of a massive progenitor. Particular attention is given to the effect of shear viscosity of incompressible stellar material on the timing of non-radial torsional magneto-elastic pulsations of the star triggered by starquakes. By accentuating the fact that this kind of vibration is unique to the seismology of a paramagnetic neutron star we show that the high-frequency modes decay faster than the low-frequency modes. The obtained analytic expressions for the period and relaxation time of this mode, in which the magnetic susceptibility and viscosity enter as input parameters, are then quantified by numerical estimates for these parameters taken from early and current works on transport coefficients of dense matter. It is found that the effect of viscosity is crucial for the lifetime of magneto-torsion vibrations but it does not appreciably affect the periods of this seismic mode which fall in the realm of periods of pulsed emission of soft gamma-ray repeaters and anomalous x-ray pulsars - young super-magnetized neutron stars, radiating, according to the magnetar model, at the expense of the magnetic energy release. Finally, we present arguments that the long periodic pulsed emission of these stars in a quiescent regime of radiation can be interpreted as a manifestation of weakly damped seismic magneto-torsion vibrations exhibiting the field induced spin polarization of baryon matter

  14. Accreting Millisecond Pulsars: Neutron Star Masses and Radii

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strohmayer, Tod

    2004-01-01

    High amplitude X-ray brightness oscillations during thermonuclear X-ray bursts were discovered with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) in early 1996. Spectral and timing evidence strongly supports the conclusion that these oscillations are caused by rotational modulation of the burst emission and that they reveal the spin frequency of neutron stars in low mass X-ray binaries. The recent discovery of X-ray burst oscillations from two accreting millisecond pulsars has confirmed this basic picture and provided a new route to measuring neutron star properties and constraining the dense matter equation of state. I will briefly summarize the current observational understanding of accreting millisecond pulsars, and describe recent attempts to determine the mass and radius of the neutron star in XTE J1814-338.

  15. PALFA Discovers Neutron Stars on a Collision Course

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kohler, Susanna

    2018-03-01

    Got any plans in 46 million years? If not, you should keep an eye out for PSR J1946+2052 around that time this upcoming merger of two neutron stars promises to be an exciting show!Survey SuccessAverage profile for PSR J1946+2052 at 1.43 GHz from a 2 hr observation from the Arecibo Observatory. [Stovall et al. 2018]It seems like we just wrote about the dearth of known double-neutron-star systems, and about how new surveys are doing their best to find more of these compact binaries. Observing these systems improves our knowledge of how pairs of evolved stars behave before they eventually spiral in, merge, and emit gravitational waves that detectors like the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory might observe.Todays study, led by Kevin Stovall (National Radio Astronomy Observatory), goes to show that these surveys are doing a great job so far! Yet another double-neutron-star binary, PSR J1946+2052, has now been discovered as part of the Arecibo L-Band Feed Array pulsar (PALFA) survey. This one is especially unique due to the incredible speed with which these neutron stars orbit each other and their correspondingly (relatively!) short timescale for merger.An Extreme ExampleThe PALFA survey, conducted with the enormous 305-meter radio dish at Arecibo, has thus far resulted in the discovery of 180 pulsars including two double-neutron-star systems. The most recent discovery by Stovall and collaborators brings that number up to three, for a grand total of 16 binary-neutron-star systems (confirmed and unconfirmed) known to date.The 305-m Arecibo Radio Telescope, built into the landscape at Arecibo, Puerto Rico. [NOAO/AURA/NSF/H. Schweiker/WIYN]The newest binary in this collection, PSR J1946+2052, exhibits a pulsar with a 17-millisecond spin period thatwhips around its compact companion at a terrifying rate: the binary period is just 1.88 hours. Follow-up observations with the Jansky Very Large Array and other telescopes allowed the team to identify the binarys

  16. Constraints on the symmetry energy from neutron star observations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Newton, W G; Gearheart, M; Wen, De-Hua; Li, Bao-An

    2013-01-01

    The modeling of many neutron star observables incorporates the microphysics of both the stellar crust and core, which is tied intimately to the properties of the nuclear matter equation of state (EoS). We explore the predictions of such models over the range of experimentally constrained nuclear matter parameters, focusing on the slope of the symmetry energy at nuclear saturation density L. We use a consistent model of the composition and EoS of neutron star crust and core matter to model the binding energy of pulsar B of the double pulsar system J0737-3039, the frequencies of torsional oscillations of the neutron star crust and the instability region for r-modes in the neutron star core damped by electron-electron viscosity at the crust-core interface. By confronting these models with observations, we illustrate the potential of astrophysical observables to offer constraints on poorly known nuclear matter parameters complementary to terrestrial experiments, and demonstrate that our models consistently predict L < 70 MeV.

  17. NICER observations of highly magnetized neutron stars: Initial results

    Science.gov (United States)

    Enoto, Teruaki; Arzoumanian, Zaven; Gendreau, Keith C.; Nynka, Melania; Kaspi, Victoria; Harding, Alice; Guver, Tolga; Lewandowska, Natalia; Majid, Walid; Ho, Wynn C. G.; NICER Team

    2018-01-01

    The Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) was launched on June 3, 2017, and attached to the International Space Station. The large effective area of NICER in soft X-rays makes it a powerful tool not only for its primary science objective (diagnostics of the nuclear equation state) but also for studying neutron stars of various classes. As one of the NICER science working groups, the Magnetars and Magnetospheres (M&M) team coordinates monitoring and target of opportunity (ToO) observations of magnetized neutron stars, including magnetars, high-B pulsars, X-ray dim isolated neutron stars, and young rotation-powered pulsars. The M&M working group has performed simultaneous X-ray and radio observations of the Crab and Vela pulsars, ToO observations of the active anomalous X-ray pulsar 4U 0142+61, and a monitoring campaign for the transient magnetar SGR 0501+4516. Here we summarize the current status and initial results of the M&M group.

  18. Role of strangeness to the neutron star mass and cooling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Chang-Hwan; Lim, Yeunhwan; Hyun, Chang Ho; Kwak, Kyujin

    2018-01-01

    Neutron star provides unique environments for the investigation of the physics of extreme dense matter beyond normal nuclear saturation density. In such high density environments, hadrons with strange quarks are expected to play very important role in stabilizing the system. Kaons and hyperons are the lowest mass states with strangeness among meson and bayron families, respectively. In this work, we investigate the role of kaons and hyperons to the neutron star mass, and discuss their role in the neutron star cooling.

  19. A debris disk around an isolated young neutron star.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Zhongxiang; Chakrabarty, Deepto; Kaplan, David L

    2006-04-06

    Pulsars are rotating, magnetized neutron stars that are born in supernova explosions following the collapse of the cores of massive stars. If some of the explosion ejecta fails to escape, it may fall back onto the neutron star or it may possess sufficient angular momentum to form a disk. Such 'fallback' is both a general prediction of current supernova models and, if the material pushes the neutron star over its stability limit, a possible mode of black hole formation. Fallback disks could dramatically affect the early evolution of pulsars, yet there are few observational constraints on whether significant fallback occurs or even the actual existence of such disks. Here we report the discovery of mid-infrared emission from a cool disk around an isolated young X-ray pulsar. The disk does not power the pulsar's X-ray emission but is passively illuminated by these X-rays. The estimated mass of the disk is of the order of 10 Earth masses, and its lifetime (> or = 10(6) years) significantly exceeds the spin-down age of the pulsar, supporting a supernova fallback origin. The disk resembles protoplanetary disks seen around ordinary young stars, suggesting the possibility of planet formation around young neutron stars.

  20. On the Fifth Force and the Structure of Neutron Star

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D. J. Song

    1994-06-01

    Full Text Available In the framework of Thomas-Fermi equation, we have examined the properties of neutron star by assuming the existence of a new intermediate force which is composition dependent. We have found that the structure, size and mass of neutron star are affected by the strength and range of this new force. In the ultrarelativistic limit, we have also confirmed that Chandrasekhar mass, Mch-(1-α^(- 3/2 (m_pl^3/m^2 is determined by the constants of classical physical laws, which take part in the selfgravitating processes on neutron star as well as the constant of hypothetical fifth force. In the experimental limits of the fifth force, the changes of size and mass of a neutron star are in the order of strength parameter α.

  1. Magneto–Thermal Evolution of Neutron Stars with Emphasis to ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    The magnetic and thermal evolution of neutron stars is a very complex process with many non-linear interactions. For a decent understanding of neutron star physics, these evolutions cannot be considered isolated. A brief overview is presented, which describes the main magneto–thermal interactions that determine the fate ...

  2. Neutron stars interiors: Theory and reality

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stone, J.R.

    2016-01-01

    There are many fascinating processes in the universe which we observe in more detail thanks to increasingly sophisticated technology. One of the most interesting phenomena is the life cycle of stars, their birth, evolution and death. If the stars are massive enough, they end their lives in a core-collapse supernova explosion, one of the most violent events in the universe. As a result, the densest objects in the universe, neutron stars and/or black holes, are created. The physical basis of these events should be understood in line with observation. Unfortunately, available data do not provide adequate constraints for many theoretical models of dense matter. One of the most open areas of research is the composition of matter in the cores of neutron stars. Unambiguous fingerprints for the appearance and evolution of particular components, such as strange baryons and mesons, with increasing density, have not been identified. In particular, the hadron-quark phase transition remains a subject of intensive research. In this contribution we briefly survey the most promising observational and theoretical directions leading to progress in understanding high density matter in neutron stars. A possible way forward in modeling high-density matter is outlined, exemplified by the quark-meson-coupling model (QMC). This model makes connection between hadronic structure and the underlying quark make-up. It offers a natural explanation for the saturation of nuclear force and treats high-density matter, containing the full baryon octet, in terms of four uniquely defined parameters adjusted to properties of symmetric nuclear matter at saturation. (orig.)

  3. Neutron stars interiors: Theory and reality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stone, J. R.

    2016-03-01

    There are many fascinating processes in the universe which we observe in more detail thanks to increasingly sophisticated technology. One of the most interesting phenomena is the life cycle of stars, their birth, evolution and death. If the stars are massive enough, they end their lives in a core-collapse supernova explosion, one of the most violent events in the universe. As a result, the densest objects in the universe, neutron stars and/or black holes, are created. The physical basis of these events should be understood in line with observation. Unfortunately, available data do not provide adequate constraints for many theoretical models of dense matter. One of the most open areas of research is the composition of matter in the cores of neutron stars. Unambiguous fingerprints for the appearance and evolution of particular components, such as strange baryons and mesons, with increasing density, have not been identified. In particular, the hadron-quark phase transition remains a subject of intensive research. In this contribution we briefly survey the most promising observational and theoretical directions leading to progress in understanding high density matter in neutron stars. A possible way forward in modeling high-density matter is outlined, exemplified by the quark-meson-coupling model (QMC). This model makes connection between hadronic structure and the underlying quark make-up. It offers a natural explanation for the saturation of nuclear force and treats high-density matter, containing the full baryon octet, in terms of four uniquely defined parameters adjusted to properties of symmetric nuclear matter at saturation.

  4. Neutron stars interiors: Theory and reality

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stone, J.R. [University of Oxford, Department of Physics, Oxford (United Kingdom); University of Tennessee, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Knoxville, TN (United States)

    2016-03-15

    There are many fascinating processes in the universe which we observe in more detail thanks to increasingly sophisticated technology. One of the most interesting phenomena is the life cycle of stars, their birth, evolution and death. If the stars are massive enough, they end their lives in a core-collapse supernova explosion, one of the most violent events in the universe. As a result, the densest objects in the universe, neutron stars and/or black holes, are created. The physical basis of these events should be understood in line with observation. Unfortunately, available data do not provide adequate constraints for many theoretical models of dense matter. One of the most open areas of research is the composition of matter in the cores of neutron stars. Unambiguous fingerprints for the appearance and evolution of particular components, such as strange baryons and mesons, with increasing density, have not been identified. In particular, the hadron-quark phase transition remains a subject of intensive research. In this contribution we briefly survey the most promising observational and theoretical directions leading to progress in understanding high density matter in neutron stars. A possible way forward in modeling high-density matter is outlined, exemplified by the quark-meson-coupling model (QMC). This model makes connection between hadronic structure and the underlying quark make-up. It offers a natural explanation for the saturation of nuclear force and treats high-density matter, containing the full baryon octet, in terms of four uniquely defined parameters adjusted to properties of symmetric nuclear matter at saturation. (orig.)

  5. The Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilson-Hodge, Colleen A.; Gendreau, K.; Arzoumanian, Z.

    2014-01-01

    The Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) is an approved NASA Explorer Mission of Opportunity dedicated to the study of the extraordinary gravitational, electromagnetic, and nuclear-physics environments embodied by neutron stars. Scheduled to be launched in 2016 as an International Space Station payload, NICER will explore the exotic states of matter, using rotation-resolved spectroscopy of the thermal and non-thermal emissions of neutron stars in the soft (0.2-12 keV) X-ray band. Grazing-incidence "concentrator" optics coupled with silicon drift detectors, actively pointed for a full hemisphere of sky coverage, will provide photon-counting spectroscopy and timing registered to GPS time and position, with high throughput and relatively low background. The NICER project plans to implement a Guest Observer Program, which includes competitively selected user targets after the first year of flight operations. I will describe NICER and discuss ideas for potential Be/X-ray binary science.

  6. Solid neutron matter the energy density in the relativistic harmonic approximation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cattani, M.; Fernandes, N.C.

    A relativistic expression for the energy density as a function of particle density for solid neutron matter is obtained using Dirac's equation with a truncated harmonic potential. Ultrabaric and superluminous effects are not found in our approach [pt

  7. Isolated Neutron Stars: From the Surface to the Interior

    CERN Document Server

    Zane, Silvia; Page, Dany

    2007-01-01

    This book collects the contributions presented at the conference Isolated Neutron Stars: From the Surface to the Interior, held in London in April 2006. Forty years after the discovery of radio pulsars it presents an up-to-date description of the new vision of isolated neutron stars that has emerged in recent years with the advance of multi-wavelength observations. The great variety of isolated neutron stars, from pulsars to magnetars, some of them discovered very recently and many of them not detectable in radio wavelengths, is amply covered by descriptions of recent observational results and presentations of the latest theoretical interpretation of these data.

  8. Role of strangeness to the neutron star mass and cooling

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lee Chang-Hwan

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Neutron star provides unique environments for the investigation of the physics of extreme dense matter beyond normal nuclear saturation density. In such high density environments, hadrons with strange quarks are expected to play very important role in stabilizing the system. Kaons and hyperons are the lowest mass states with strangeness among meson and bayron families, respectively. In this work, we investigate the role of kaons and hyperons to the neutron star mass, and discuss their role in the neutron star cooling.

  9. Matter and Radiation in Strong Magnetic Fields of Neutron Stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lai, D

    2006-01-01

    Neutron stars are found to possess magnetic fields ranging from 10 8 G to 10 15 G, much larger than achievable in terrestrial laboratories. Understanding the properties of matter and radiative transfer in strong magnetic fields is essential for the proper interpretation of various observations of magnetic neutron stars, including radio pulsars and magnetars. This paper reviews the atomic/molecular physics and condensed matter physics in strong magnetic fields, as well as recent works on modeling radiation from magnetized neutron star atmospheres/surface layers

  10. Neutron Star Structure in the Presence of Conformally Coupled Scalar Fields

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sultana, Joseph; Bose, Benjamin; Kazanas, Demosthenes

    2014-01-01

    Neutron star models are studied in the context of scalar-tensor theories of gravity in the presence of a conformally coupled scalar field, using two different numerical equations of state (EoS) representing different degrees of stiffness. In both cases we obtain a complete solution by matching the interior numerical solution of the coupled Einstein-scalar field hydrostatic equations, with an exact metric on the surface of the star. These are then used to find the effect of the scalar field and its coupling to geometry, on the neutron star structure, particularly the maximum neutron star mass and radius. We show that in the presence of a conformally coupled scalar field, neutron stars are less dense and have smaller masses and radii than their counterparts in the minimally coupled case, and the effect increases with the magnitude of the scalar field at the center of the star.

  11. Neutron star mergers as a probe of modifications of general relativity with finite-range scalar forces

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sagunski, Laura; Zhang, Jun; Johnson, Matthew C.; Lehner, Luis; Sakellariadou, Mairi; Liebling, Steven L.; Palenzuela, Carlos; Neilsen, David

    2018-03-01

    Observations of gravitational radiation from compact binary systems provide an unprecedented opportunity to test general relativity in the strong field dynamical regime. In this paper, we investigate how future observations of gravitational radiation from binary neutron star mergers might provide constraints on finite-range forces from a universally coupled massive scalar field. Such scalar degrees of freedom (d.o.f.) are a characteristic feature of many extensions of general relativity. For concreteness, we work in the context of metric f (R ) gravity, which is equivalent to general relativity and a universally coupled scalar field with a nonlinear potential whose form is fixed by the choice of f (R ). In theories where neutron stars (or other compact objects) obtain a significant scalar charge, the resulting attractive finite-range scalar force has implications for both the inspiral and merger phases of binary systems. We first present an analysis of the inspiral dynamics in Newtonian limit, and forecast the constraints on the mass of the scalar and charge of the compact objects for the Advanced LIGO gravitational wave observatory. We then perform a comparative study of binary neutron star mergers in general relativity with those of a one-parameter model of f (R ) gravity using fully relativistic hydrodynamical simulations. These simulations elucidate the effects of the scalar on the merger and postmerger dynamics. We comment on the utility of the full waveform (inspiral, merger, postmerger) to probe different regions of parameter space for both the particular model of f (R ) gravity studied here and for finite-range scalar forces more generally.

  12. Neutron star kicks and asymmetric supernovae

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lai, D.

    2001-01-01

    Observational advances over the last decade have left little doubt that neutron stars received a large kick velocity (of order a few hundred to a thousand km s -1 ) at birth. The physical origin of the kicks and the related supernova asymmetry is one of the central unsolved mysteries of supernova research. We review the physics of different kick mechanisms, including hydrodynamically driven, neutrino - magnetic field driven, and electromagnetically driven kicks. The viabilities of the different kick mechanisms are directly related to the other key parameters characterizing nascent neutron stars, such as the initial magnetic field and the initial spin. Recent observational constraints on kick mechanisms are also discussed. (orig.)

  13. Neutron-Star Radius from a Population of Binary Neutron Star Mergers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bose, Sukanta; Chakravarti, Kabir; Rezzolla, Luciano; Sathyaprakash, B S; Takami, Kentaro

    2018-01-19

    We show how gravitational-wave observations with advanced detectors of tens to several tens of neutron-star binaries can measure the neutron-star radius with an accuracy of several to a few percent, for mass and spatial distributions that are realistic, and with none of the sources located within 100 Mpc. We achieve such an accuracy by combining measurements of the total mass from the inspiral phase with those of the compactness from the postmerger oscillation frequencies. For estimating the measurement errors of these frequencies, we utilize analytical fits to postmerger numerical relativity waveforms in the time domain, obtained here for the first time, for four nuclear-physics equations of state and a couple of values for the mass. We further exploit quasiuniversal relations to derive errors in compactness from those frequencies. Measuring the average radius to well within 10% is possible for a sample of 100 binaries distributed uniformly in volume between 100 and 300 Mpc, so long as the equation of state is not too soft or the binaries are not too heavy. We also give error estimates for the Einstein Telescope.

  14. A Search for Black Holes and Neutron Stars in the Kepler Field

    Science.gov (United States)

    Orosz, Jerome; Short, Donald; Welsh, William; Windmiller, Gur; Dabney, David

    2018-01-01

    Black holes and neutron stars represent the final evolutionary stages of the most massive stars. In addition to their use as probes into the evolution of massive stars, black holes and neutron stars are ideal laboratories to test General Relativity in the strong field limit. The number of neutron stars and black holes in the Milky Way is not precisely known, but there are an estimated one billion neutron stars in the galaxy based on the observed numbers of radio pulsars. The number of black holes is about 100 million, based on the behavior of the Initial Mass Function at high stellar masses.All of the known steller-mass black holes (and a fair number of neutron stars) are in ``X-ray binaries'' that were discovered because of their luminous X-ray emission. The requirement to be in an X-ray-emitting binary places a strong observational bias on the discovery of stellar-mass black holes. Thus the 21 known black hole binaries represent only the very uppermost tip of the population iceberg.We have conducted an optical survey using Kepler data designed to uncover black holes and neutron stars in both ``quiescent'' X-ray binaries and ``pre-contact'' X-ray binaries. We discuss how the search was conducted, including how potentially interesting light curves were classified and the how variability types were identified. Although we did not find any convincing candidate neutron star or black hole systems, we did find a few noteworthy binary systems, including two binaries that contain low-mass stars with unusually low albedos.

  15. Relativistic spin precession in the double pulsar.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Breton, Rene P; Kaspi, Victoria M; Kramer, Michael; McLaughlin, Maura A; Lyutikov, Maxim; Ransom, Scott M; Stairs, Ingrid H; Ferdman, Robert D; Camilo, Fernando; Possenti, Andrea

    2008-07-04

    The double pulsar PSR J0737-3039A/B consists of two neutron stars in a highly relativistic orbit that displays a roughly 30-second eclipse when pulsar A passes behind pulsar B. Describing this eclipse of pulsar A as due to absorption occurring in the magnetosphere of pulsar B, we successfully used a simple geometric model to characterize the observed changing eclipse morphology and to measure the relativistic precession of pulsar B's spin axis around the total orbital angular momentum. This provides a test of general relativity and alternative theories of gravity in the strong-field regime. Our measured relativistic spin precession rate of 4.77 degrees (-0 degrees .65)(+0 degrees .66) per year (68% confidence level) is consistent with that predicted by general relativity within an uncertainty of 13%.

  16. SPINDOWN OF ISOLATED NEUTRON STARS: GRAVITATIONAL WAVES OR MAGNETIC BRAKING?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Staff, Jan E.; Jaikumar, Prashanth; Chan, Vincent; Ouyed, Rachid

    2012-01-01

    We study the spindown of isolated neutron stars from initially rapid rotation rates, driven by two factors: (1) gravitational wave emission due to r-modes and (2) magnetic braking. In the context of isolated neutron stars, we present the first study including self-consistently the magnetic damping of r-modes in the spin evolution. We track the spin evolution employing the RNS code, which accounts for the rotating structure of neutron stars for various equations of state. We find that, despite the strong damping due to the magnetic field, r-modes alter the braking rate from pure magnetic braking for B ≤ 10 13 G. For realistic values of the saturation amplitude α sat , the r-mode can also decrease the time to reach the threshold central density for quark deconfinement. Within a phenomenological model, we assess the gravitational waveform that would result from r-mode-driven spindown of a magnetized neutron star. To contrast with the persistent signal during the spindown phase, we also present a preliminary estimate of the transient gravitational wave signal from an explosive quark-hadron phase transition, which can be a signal for the deconfinement of quarks inside neutron stars.

  17. Repeating and non-repeating fast radio bursts from binary neutron star mergers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamasaki, Shotaro; Totani, Tomonori; Kiuchi, Kenta

    2018-04-01

    Most fast radio bursts (FRB) do not show evidence of repetition, and such non-repeating FRBs may be produced at the time of a merger of binary neutron stars (BNS), provided that the BNS merger rate is close to the high end of the currently possible range. However, the merger environment is polluted by dynamical ejecta, which may prohibit the radio signal from propagating. We examine this by using a general-relativistic simulation of a BNS merger, and show that the ejecta appears about 1 ms after the rotation speed of the merged star becomes the maximum. Therefore there is a time window in which an FRB signal can reach outside, and the short duration of non-repeating FRBs can be explained by screening after ejecta formation. A fraction of BNS mergers may leave a rapidly rotating and stable neutron star, and such objects may be the origin of repeating FRBs like FRB 121102. We show that a merger remnant would appear as a repeating FRB on a time scale of ˜1-10 yr, and expected properties are consistent with the observations of FRB 121102. We construct an FRB rate evolution model that includes these two populations of repeating and non-repeating FRBs from BNS mergers, and show that the detection rate of repeating FRBs relative to non-repeating ones rapidly increases with improving search sensitivity. This may explain why only the repeating FRB 121102 was discovered by the most sensitive FRB search with Arecibo. Several predictions are made, including the appearance of a repeating FRB 1-10 yr after a BNS merger that is localized by gravitational waves and subsequent electromagnetic radiation.

  18. Neutrino radiation-hydrodynamics. General relativistic versus multidimensional supernova simulations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liebendoerfer, Matthias; Fischer, Tobias; Hempel, Matthias

    2010-01-01

    Recently, simulations of the collapse of massive stars showed that selected models of the QCD phase transitions to deconfined quarks during the early postbounce phase can trigger the supernova explosion that has been searched for over many years in spherically symmetric supernova models. Using sophisticated general relativistic Boltzmann neutrino transport, it was found that a characteristic neutrino signature is emitted that permits to falsify or identify this scenario in the next Galactic supernova event. On the other hand, more refined observations of past supernovae and progressing theoretical research in different supernova groups demonstrated that the effects of multidimensional fluid instabilities cannot be neglected in global models of the explosions of massive stars. We point to different efforts where neutrino transport and general relativistic effects are combined with multidimensional fluid instabilities in supernovae. With those, it will be possible to explore the gravitational wave emission as a potential second characteristic observable of the presence of quark matter in new-born neutron stars. (author)

  19. Testing the Formation Scenarios of Binary Neutron Star Systems with Measurements of the Neutron Star Moment of Inertia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Newton, William G.; Steiner, Andrew W.; Yagi, Kent

    2018-03-01

    Two low-mass (M slope of the nuclear symmetry energy L. We find that, if either J0737-3039B or the J1756-2251 companion were formed in a US-SN, no more than 0.06 M ⊙ could have been lost from the progenitor core. Furthermore, a measurement of the moment of inertia of J0737-3039A to within 10% accuracy can discriminate between formation scenarios and, given current constraints on the predicted core mass loss, potentially rule them out. Advanced LIGO can potentially measure the neutron star tidal polarizability to equivalent accuracy which, using the I-Love-Q relations, would obtain similar constraints on the formation scenarios. Such information would help constrain important aspects of binary evolution used for population synthesis predictions of the rate of binary neutron star mergers and resulting electromagnetic and gravitational wave signals. Further progress needs to be made in modeling the core-collapse process that leads to low-mass neutron stars, particularly in making robust predictions for the mass loss from the progenitor core.

  20. Intermediate-mass Elements in Young Supernova Remnants Reveal Neutron Star Kicks by Asymmetric Explosions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Katsuda, Satoru; Morii, Mikio; Janka, Hans-Thomas; Wongwathanarat, Annop; Nakamura, Ko; Kotake, Kei; Mori, Koji; Müller, Ewald; Takiwaki, Tomoya; Tanaka, Masaomi; Tominaga, Nozomu; Tsunemi, Hiroshi

    2018-03-01

    The birth properties of neutron stars (NSs) yield important information about the still-debated physical processes that trigger the explosion as well as on intrinsic neutron-star physics. These properties include the high space velocities of young neutron stars with average values of several 100 km s‑1, with an underlying “kick” mechanism that is not fully clarified. There are two competing possibilities that could accelerate NSs during their birth: anisotropic ejection of either stellar debris or neutrinos. Here we present new evidence from X-ray measurements that chemical elements between silicon and calcium in six young gaseous supernova remnants are preferentially expelled opposite to the direction of neutron star motion. There is no correlation between the kick velocities and magnetic field strengths of these neutron stars. Our results support a hydrodynamic origin of neutron-star kicks connected to asymmetric explosive mass ejection, and they conflict with neutron-star acceleration scenarios that invoke anisotropic neutrino emission caused by particle and nuclear physics in combination with very strong neutron-star magnetic fields.

  1. Constructing neutron stars with a gravitational Higgs mechanism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Franchini, Nicola; Coates, Andrew; Sotiriou, Thomas P.

    2018-03-01

    In scalar-tensor theories, spontaneous scalarization is a phase transition that can occur in ultradense environments such as neutron stars. The scalar field develops a nontrivial configuration once the stars exceeds a compactness threshold. We recently pointed out that, if the scalar exhibits some additional coupling to matter, it could give rise to significantly different microphysics in these environments. In this work we study, at the nonperturbative level, a toy model in which the photon is given a large mass when spontaneous scalarization occurs. Our results demonstrate clearly the effectiveness of spontaneous scalarization as a Higgs-like mechanism in neutron stars.

  2. Neutron Stars and the Discovery of Pulsars.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greenstein, George

    1985-01-01

    Part one recounted the story of the discovery of pulsars and examined the Crab Nebula, supernovae, and neutron stars. This part (experts from the book "Frozen Star") shows how an understanding of the nature of pulsars allowed astronomers to tie these together. (JN)

  3. Chandra Observations of Neutron Stars: An Overview

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weisskopf, Martin C.; Karovska, M.; Pavlov, G. G.; Zavlin, V. E.; Clarke, Tracy

    2006-01-01

    We present a brief review of Chandra X-ray Observatory observations of neutron stars. The outstanding spatial and spectral resolution of this great observatory have allowed for observations of unprecedented clarity and accuracy. Many of these observations have provided new insights into neutron star physics. We present an admittedly biased and overly brief overview of these observations, highlighting some new discoveries made possible by the Observatory's unique capabilities. We also include our analysis of recent multiwavelength observations of the putative pulsar and its pulsar-wind nebula in the IC 443 SNR.

  4. Rapid Cooling of the Neutron Star in Cassiopeia A Triggered by Neutron Superfluidity in Dense Matter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Page, Dany; Prakash, Madappa; Lattimer, James M.; Steiner, Andrew W.

    2011-01-01

    We propose that the observed cooling of the neutron star in Cassiopeia A is due to enhanced neutrino emission from the recent onset of the breaking and formation of neutron Cooper pairs in the 3 P 2 channel. We find that the critical temperature for this superfluid transition is ≅0.5x10 9 K. The observed rapidity of the cooling implies that protons were already in a superconducting state with a larger critical temperature. This is the first direct evidence that superfluidity and superconductivity occur at supranuclear densities within neutron stars. Our prediction that this cooling will continue for several decades at the present rate can be tested by continuous monitoring of this neutron star.

  5. Tidal Love numbers of neutron and self-bound quark stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Postnikov, Sergey; Prakash, Madappa; Lattimer, James M.

    2010-01-01

    Gravitational waves from the final stages of inspiraling binary neutron stars are expected to be one of the most important sources for ground-based gravitational wave detectors. The masses of the components are determinable from the orbital and chirp frequencies during the early part of the evolution, and large finite-size (tidal) effects are measurable toward the end of inspiral, but the gravitational wave signal is expected to be very complex at this time. Tidal effects during the early part of the evolution will form a very small correction, but during this phase the signal is relatively clean. The accumulated phase shift due to tidal corrections is characterized by a single quantity related to a star's tidal Love number. The Love number is sensitive, in particular, to the compactness parameter M/R and the star's internal structure, and its determination could provide an important constraint to the neutron star radius. We show that Love numbers of self-bound strange quark matter stars are qualitatively different from those of normal neutron stars. Observations of the tidal signature from coalescing compact binaries could therefore provide an important, and possibly unique, way to distinguish self-bound strange quark stars from normal neutron stars. Tidal signatures from self-bound strange quark stars with masses smaller than 1M · are substantially smaller than those of normal stars owing to their smaller radii. Thus tidal signatures of stars less massive than 1M · are probably not detectable with Advanced LIGO. For stars with masses in the range 1-2M · , the anticipated efficiency of the proposed Einstein telescope would be required for the detection of tidal signatures.

  6. Supersoft Symmetry Energy Encountering Non-Newtonian Gravity in Neutron Stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wen Dehua; Li Baoan; Chen Liewen

    2009-01-01

    Considering the non-Newtonian gravity proposed in grand unification theories, we show that the stability and observed global properties of neutron stars cannot rule out the supersoft nuclear symmetry energies at suprasaturation densities. The degree of possible violation of the inverse-square law of gravity in neutron stars is estimated using an equation of state of neutron-rich nuclear matter consistent with the available terrestrial laboratory data.

  7. Strange-quark-matter stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Glendenning, N.K.

    1989-11-01

    We investigate the implications of rapid rotation corresponding to the frequency of the new pulsar reported in the supernovae remnant SN1987A. It places very stringent conditions on the equation of state if the star is assumed to be bound by gravity alone. We find that the central energy density of the star must be greater than 13 times that of nuclear density to be stable against the most optimistic estimate of general relativistic instabilities. This is too high for the matter to consist of individual hadrons. We conclude that it is implausible that the newly discovered pulsar, if its half-millisecond signals are attributable to rotation, is a neutron star. We show that it can be a strange quark star, and that the entire family of strange stars can sustain high rotation if strange matter is stable at an energy density exceeding about 5.4 times that of nuclear matter. We discuss the conversion of a neutron star to strange star, the possible existence of a crust of heavy ions held in suspension by centrifugal and electric forces, the cooling and other features. 34 refs., 10 figs., 1 tab

  8. Detection of Reflection Features in the Neutron Star Low-mass X-Ray Binary Serpens X-1 with NICER

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ludlam, R. M.; Miller, J. M.; Arzoumanian, Z.; Bult, P. M.; Cackett, E. M.; Chakrabarty, D.; Enoto, T.; Fabian, A. C.; Gendreau, K. C.; Guillot, S.; Homan, J.; Jaisawal, G. K.; Keek, L.; La Marr, B.; Malacaria, C.; Markwardt, C. B.; Steiner, J. F.; Strohmayer, T. E.

    2018-05-01

    We present Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) observations of the neutron star (NS) low-mass X-ray binary Serpens X-1 during the early mission phase in 2017. With the high spectral sensitivity and low-energy X-ray passband of NICER, we are able to detect the Fe L line complex in addition to the signature broad, asymmetric Fe K line. We confirm the presence of these lines by comparing the NICER data to archival observations with XMM-Newton/Reflection Grating Spectrometer (RGS) and NuSTAR. Both features originate close to the innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO). When modeling the lines with the relativistic line model RELLINE, we find that the Fe L blend requires an inner disk radius of {1.4}-0.1+0.2 R ISCO and Fe K is at {1.03}-0.03+0.13 R ISCO (errors quoted at 90%). This corresponds to a position of {17.3}-1.2+2.5 km and {12.7}-0.4+1.6 km for a canonical NS mass ({M}NS}=1.4 {M}ȯ ) and dimensionless spin value of a = 0. Additionally, we employ a new version of the RELXILL model tailored for NSs and determine that these features arise from a dense disk and supersolar Fe abundance.

  9. Numerical simulation of binary black hole and neutron star mergers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kastaun, W.; Rezzolla, L. [Albert Einstein Institut, Potsdam-Golm (Germany)

    2016-11-01

    One of the last predictions of general relativity that still awaits direct observational confirmation is the existence of gravitational waves. Those fluctuations of the geometry of space and time are expected to travel with the speed of light and are emitted by any accelerating mass. Only the most violent events in the universe, such as mergers of two black holes or neutron stars, produce gravitational waves strong enough to be measured. Even those waves are extremely weak when arriving at Earth, and their detection is a formidable technological challenge. In recent years sufficiently sensitive detectors became operational, such as GEO600, Virgo, and LIGO. They are expected to observe around 40 events per year. To interpret the observational data, theoretical modeling of the sources is a necessity, and requires numerical simulations of the equations of general relativity and relativistic hydrodynamics. Such computations can only be carried out on large scale supercomputers, given that many scenarios need to be simulated, each of which typically occupies hundreds of CPU cores for a week. Our main goal is to predict the gravitational wave signal from the merger of two compact objects. Comparison with future observations will provide important insights into the fundamental forces of nature in regimes that are impossible to recreate in laboratory experiments. The waveforms from binary black hole mergers would allow one to test the correctness of general relativity in previously inaccessible regimes. The signal from binary neutron star mergers will provide input for nuclear physics, because the signal depends strongly on the unknown properties of matter at the ultra high densities inside neutron stars, which cannot be observed in any other astrophysical scenario. Besides mergers, we also want to improve the theoretical models of close encounters between black holes. A gravitational wave detector with even higher sensitivity, the Einstein Telescope, is already in the

  10. Nuclear symmetry energy and stability of matter in neutron stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kubis, Sebastian

    2007-01-01

    It is shown that the nuclear symmetry energy is the key quantity in the stability consideration in neutron star matter. The symmetry energy controls the position of crust-core transition and also may lead to new effects in the inner core of neutron star

  11. Neutron star evolution and the structure of matter at high density

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Soyeur, Madeleine.

    1981-09-01

    The structure and properties of neutron stars are determined by the state of cold nuclear matter at high density. In order to investigate the behavior of matter inside neutron stars, observables sensitive to their internal structure have to be calculated and confronted to observations. The thermal radiation of neutron stars seems to be a good candidate to be such observable. It can be shown that the neutrino luminosity of neutron stars, responsible for their cooling in the early stages of their evolution is strongly dependent on possible phase transitions to superfluid nucleons, to pion condensation or to quark matter. The specific heat of matter is also not the same in the various phases expected at high density and is particularly sensitive to the nucleon superfluidity. At present, both the theoretical estimates and the observations of the thermal properties of neutron stars are still quite preliminary. In particular, large uncertainties due to possible reheating mechanisms and magnetic field effects make the theoretical interpretation of the steady radiation of pulsars quite difficult

  12. Extreme neutron stars from Extended Theories of Gravity

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Astashenok, Artyom V. [I. Kant Baltic Federal University, Institute of Physics and Technology, Nevskogo st. 14, Kaliningrad, 236041 (Russian Federation); Capozziello, Salvatore [Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Napoli ' ' Federico II' ' , Via Cinthia, 9, Napoli, I-80126 Italy (Italy); Odintsov, Sergei D., E-mail: artyom.art@gmail.com, E-mail: capozziello@na.infn.it, E-mail: odintsov@ieec.uab.es [Instituciò Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Barcelona (Spain)

    2015-01-01

    We discuss neutron stars with strong magnetic mean fields in the framework of Extended Theories of Gravity. In particular, we take into account models derived from f(R) and f(G) extensions of General Relativity where functions of the Ricci curvature invariant R and the Gauss-Bonnet invariant G are respectively considered. Dense matter in magnetic mean field, generated by magnetic properties of particles, is described by assuming a model with three meson fields and baryons octet. As result, the considerable increasing of maximal mass of neutron stars can be achieved by cubic corrections in f(R) gravity. In principle, massive stars with M > 4M{sub ☉} can be obtained. On the other hand, stable stars with high strangeness fraction (with central densities ρ{sub c} ∼ 1.5–2.0 GeV/fm{sup 3}) are possible considering quadratic corrections of f(G) gravity. The magnetic field strength in the star center is of order 6–8 × 10{sup 18} G. In general, we can say that other branches of massive neutron stars are possible considering the extra pressure contributions coming from gravity extensions. Such a feature can constitute both a probe for alternative theories and a way out to address anomalous self-gravitating compact systems.

  13. Cosmic matrix in the jubilee of relativistic astrophysics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ruffini, R.; Aimuratov, Y.; Enderli, M.; Kovacevic, M.; Belinski, V.; Bianco, C. L.; Izzo, L.; Moradi, R.; Muccino, M.; Rueda, J. A.; Vereshchagin, G. V.; Wang, Y.; Xue, S.-S.; Mathews, G. J.; Penacchioni, A. V.; Pisani, G. B.

    2015-01-01

    Following the classical works on Neutron Stars, Black Holes and Cosmology, I outline some recent results obtained in the IRAP-PhD program of ICRANet on the “Cosmic Matrix”: a new astrophysical phenomenon recorded by the X- and Gamma-Ray satellites and by the largest ground based optical telescopes all over our planet. In 3 minutes it has been recorded the occurrence of a “Supernova”, the “Induced-Gravitational-Collapse” on a Neutron Star binary, the formation of a “Black Hole”, and the creation of a “Newly Born Neutron Star”. This presentation is based on a document describing activities of ICRANet and recent developments of the paradigm of the Cosmic Matrix in the comprehension of Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) presented on the occasion of the Fourteenth Marcel Grossmann Meeting on Recent Developments in Theoretical and Experimental General Relativity, Gravitation, and Relativistic Field Theory. A Portuguese version of this document can be downloaded at: http://www.icranet.org/documents/brochure_icranet_pt.pdf

  14. Relativistic (3+1) dimensional hydrodynamic simulations of compact interacting binary systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mathews, G.J.; Evans, C.R.; Wilson, J.R.

    1986-09-01

    We discuss the development of a relativistic hydrodynamic code for describing the evolution of astrophysical systems in three spatial dimensions. The application of this code to several test problems is presented. Preliminary results from the simulation of the dynamics of accreting binary white dwarf and neutron star systems are discussed. 14 refs., 4 figs

  15. Hadron physics and the structure of neutron stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kutschera, M.

    1996-09-01

    The equation of state of hadronic matter in neutron stars is briefly reviewed. Uncertainties regarding the stiffness and composition of hadronic matter are discussed. Importance of poorly known short range interactions of nucleons and hyperons is emphasized. Condensation of meson fields and the role of subhadronic degrees of freedom is considered. Empirical constraints on the equation of state emerging from observations of neutron stars are discussed. The nature of the remnant of SN1987A is considered. (author)

  16. NEUTRON STAR MASS–RADIUS CONSTRAINTS USING EVOLUTIONARY OPTIMIZATION

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stevens, A. L.; Morsink, S. M. [Department of Physics, University of Alberta, 4-183 CCIS, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E1 (Canada); Fiege, J. D. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, R3T 2N2 (Canada); Leahy, D. A. [Department of Physics, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4 (Canada)

    2016-12-20

    The equation of state of cold supra-nuclear-density matter, such as in neutron stars, is an open question in astrophysics. A promising method for constraining the neutron star equation of state is modeling pulse profiles of thermonuclear X-ray burst oscillations from hot spots on accreting neutron stars. The pulse profiles, constructed using spherical and oblate neutron star models, are comparable to what would be observed by a next-generation X-ray timing instrument like ASTROSAT , NICER , or a mission similar to LOFT . In this paper, we showcase the use of an evolutionary optimization algorithm to fit pulse profiles to determine the best-fit masses and radii. By fitting synthetic data, we assess how well the optimization algorithm can recover the input parameters. Multiple Poisson realizations of the synthetic pulse profiles, constructed with 1.6 million counts and no background, were fitted with the Ferret algorithm to analyze both statistical and degeneracy-related uncertainty and to explore how the goodness of fit depends on the input parameters. For the regions of parameter space sampled by our tests, the best-determined parameter is the projected velocity of the spot along the observer’s line of sight, with an accuracy of ≤3% compared to the true value and with ≤5% statistical uncertainty. The next best determined are the mass and radius; for a neutron star with a spin frequency of 600 Hz, the best-fit mass and radius are accurate to ≤5%, with respective uncertainties of ≤7% and ≤10%. The accuracy and precision depend on the observer inclination and spot colatitude, with values of ∼1% achievable in mass and radius if both the inclination and colatitude are ≳60°.

  17. The relativistic gravity train

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seel, Max

    2018-05-01

    The gravity train that takes 42.2 min from any point A to any other point B that is connected by a straight-line tunnel through Earth has captured the imagination more than most other applications in calculus or introductory physics courses. Brachystochron and, most recently, nonlinear density solutions have been discussed. Here relativistic corrections are presented. It is discussed how the corrections affect the time to fall through Earth, the Sun, a white dwarf, a neutron star, and—the ultimate limit—the difference in time measured by a moving, a stationary and the fiducial observer at infinity if the density of the sphere approaches the density of a black hole. The relativistic gravity train can serve as a problem with approximate and exact analytic solutions and as numerical exercise in any introductory course on relativity.

  18. Gravitational waves from instabilities in relativistic stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Andersson, Nils

    2003-01-01

    This paper provides an overview of stellar instabilities as sources of gravitational waves. The aim is to put recent work on secular and dynamical instabilities in compact stars in context, and to summarize the current thinking about the detectability of gravitational waves from various scenarios. As a new generation of kilometre length interferometric detectors is now coming online this is a highly topical theme. The review is motivated by two key questions for future gravitational-wave astronomy: are the gravitational waves from various instabilities detectable? If so, what can these gravitational-wave signals teach us about neutron star physics? Even though we may not have clear answers to these questions, recent studies of the dynamical bar-mode instability and the secular r-mode instability have provided new insights into many of the difficult issues involved in modelling unstable stars as gravitational-wave sources. (topical review)

  19. Black Hole - Neutron Star Binary Mergers

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Gravitational radiation waveforms for black hole-neutron star coalescence calculations. The physical input is Newtonian physics, an ideal gas equation of state with...

  20. MAGNETIC ENERGY BUILDUP FOR RELATIVISTIC MAGNETAR GIANT FLARES

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yu Cong

    2011-01-01

    Motivated by coronal mass ejection studies, we construct general relativistic models of a magnetar magnetosphere endowed with strong magnetic fields. The equilibrium states of the stationary, axisymmetric magnetic fields in the magnetar magnetosphere are obtained as solutions of the Grad-Shafranov equation in a Schwarzschild spacetime. To understand the magnetic energy buildup in the magnetar magnetosphere, a generalized magnetic virial theorem in the Schwarzschild metric is newly derived. We carefully address the question whether the magnetar magnetospheric magnetic field can build up sufficient magnetic energy to account for the work required to open up the magnetic field during magnetar giant flares. We point out the importance of the Aly-Sturrock constraint, which has been widely studied in solar corona mass ejections, as a reference state in understanding magnetar energy storage processes. We examine how the magnetic field can possess enough energy to overcome the Aly-Sturrock energy constraint and open up. In particular, general relativistic (GR) effects on the Aly-Sturrock energy constraint in the Schwarzschild spacetime are carefully investigated. It is found that, for magnetar outbursts, the Aly-Sturrock constraint is more stringent, i.e., the Aly-Sturrock energy threshold is enhanced due to the GR effects. In addition, neutron stars with greater mass have a higher Aly-Sturrock energy threshold and are more difficult to erupt. This indicates that magnetars are probably not neutron stars with extreme mass. For a typical neutron star with mass of 1-2 M sun , we further explore the cross-field current effects, caused by the mass loading, on the possibility of stored magnetic field energy exceeding the Aly-Sturrock threshold.

  1. Early Results from NICER Observations of Accreting Neutron Stars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chakrabarty, Deepto; Ozel, Feryal; Arzoumanian, Zaven; Gendreau, Keith C.; Bult, Peter; Cackett, Ed; Chenevez, Jerome; Fabian, Andy; Guillot, Sebastien; Guver, Tolga; Homan, Jeroen; Keek, Laurens; Lamb, Frederick; Ludlam, Renee; Mahmoodifar, Simin; Markwardt, Craig B.; Miller, Jon M.; Psaltis, Dimitrios; Strohmayer, Tod E.; Wilson-Hodge, Colleen A.; Wolff, Michael T.

    2018-01-01

    The Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) offers significant new capabilities for the study of accreting neuton stars relative to previous X-ray missions including large effective area, low background, and greatly improved low-energy response. The NICER Burst and Accretion Working Group has designed a 2 Ms observation program to study a number of phenomena in accreting neutron stars including type-I X-ray bursts, superbursts, accretion-powered pulsations, quasi-periodic oscillations, and accretion disk reflection spectra. We present some early results from the first six months of the NICER mission.

  2. A two-solar-mass neutron star measured using Shapiro delay

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Demorest, P.B.; Pennucci, T.; Ransom, S.M.; Roberts, M.S.E.; Hessels, J.W.T.

    2010-01-01

    Neutron stars are composed of the densest form of matter known to exist in our Universe, the composition and properties of which are still theoretically uncertain. Measurements of the masses or radii of these objects can strongly constrain the neutron star matter equation of state and rule out

  3. Supernovae, compact stars and nuclear physics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Glendenning, N.K.

    1989-01-01

    We briefly review the current understanding of supernova. We investigate the implications of rapid rotation corresponding to the frequency of the new pulsar reported in the supernovae remnant SN1987A. It places very stringent conditions on the equation of state if the star is assumed to be bound by gravity alone. We find that the central energy density of the star must be greater than 12 times that of nuclear density to be stable against the most optimistic estimate of general relativistic instabilities. This is too high for the matter to plausibly consist of individual hadrons. We conclude that the newly discovered pulsar, if its half-millisecond signals are attributable to rotation, cannot be a neutron star. We show that it can be a strange quark star, and that the entire family of strange stars can sustain high rotation under appropriate conditions. We discuss the conversion of a neutron star to strange star, the possible existence of a crust of heavy ions held in suspension by centrifugal and electric forces, the cooling and other features. 39 refs., 8 figs., 2 tabs

  4. Gravitational-Wave Constraints on the Neutron-Star-Matter Equation of State

    Science.gov (United States)

    Annala, Eemeli; Gorda, Tyler; Kurkela, Aleksi; Vuorinen, Aleksi

    2018-04-01

    The detection of gravitational waves originating from a neutron-star merger, GW170817, by the LIGO and Virgo Collaborations has recently provided new stringent limits on the tidal deformabilities of the stars involved in the collision. Combining this measurement with the existence of two-solar-mass stars, we generate a generic family of neutron-star-matter equations of state (EOSs) that interpolate between state-of-the-art theoretical results at low and high baryon density. Comparing the results to ones obtained without the tidal-deformability constraint, we witness a dramatic reduction in the family of allowed EOSs. Based on our analysis, we conclude that the maximal radius of a 1.4-solar-mass neutron star is 13.6 km, and that the smallest allowed tidal deformability of a similar-mass star is Λ (1.4 M⊙)=120 .

  5. Superfluid Density of Neutrons in the Inner Crust of Neutron Stars: New Life for Pulsar Glitch Models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watanabe, Gentaro; Pethick, C. J.

    2017-08-01

    Calculations of the effects of band structure on the neutron superfluid density in the crust of neutron stars made under the assumption that the effects of pairing are small [N. Chamel, Phys. Rev. C 85, 035801 (2012)] lead to moments of inertia of superfluid neutrons so small that the crust alone is insufficient to account for the magnitude of neutron star glitches. Inspired by earlier work on ultracold atomic gases in an optical lattice, we investigate fermions with attractive interactions in a periodic lattice in the mean-field approximation. The effects of band structure are suppressed when the pairing gap is of order or greater than the strength of the lattice potential. By applying the results to the inner crust of neutron stars, we conclude that the reduction of the neutron superfluid density is considerably less than previously estimated and, consequently, it is premature to rule out models of glitches based on neutron superfluidity in the crust.

  6. Superfluid Density of Neutrons in the Inner Crust of Neutron Stars: New Life for Pulsar Glitch Models.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watanabe, Gentaro; Pethick, C J

    2017-08-11

    Calculations of the effects of band structure on the neutron superfluid density in the crust of neutron stars made under the assumption that the effects of pairing are small [N. Chamel, Phys. Rev. C 85, 035801 (2012)PRVCAN0556-2813] lead to moments of inertia of superfluid neutrons so small that the crust alone is insufficient to account for the magnitude of neutron star glitches. Inspired by earlier work on ultracold atomic gases in an optical lattice, we investigate fermions with attractive interactions in a periodic lattice in the mean-field approximation. The effects of band structure are suppressed when the pairing gap is of order or greater than the strength of the lattice potential. By applying the results to the inner crust of neutron stars, we conclude that the reduction of the neutron superfluid density is considerably less than previously estimated and, consequently, it is premature to rule out models of glitches based on neutron superfluidity in the crust.

  7. NEW HYPERON EQUATIONS OF STATE FOR SUPERNOVAE AND NEUTRON STARS IN DENSITY-DEPENDENT HADRON FIELD THEORY

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Banik, Sarmistha [BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus, Hyderabad-500078 (India); Hempel, Matthias [Departement Physik, Universität Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 82, 4056 Basel (Switzerland); Bandyopadhyay, Debades [Astroparticle Physics and Cosmology Division, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, 1/AF Bidhannagar, Kolkata-700064 (India)

    2014-10-01

    We develop new hyperon equation of state (EoS) tables for core-collapse supernova simulations and neutron stars. These EoS tables are based on a density-dependent relativistic hadron field theory where baryon-baryon interaction is mediated by mesons, using the parameter set DD2 for nucleons. Furthermore, light and heavy nuclei along with interacting nucleons are treated in the nuclear statistical equilibrium model of Hempel and Schaffner-Bielich which includes excluded volume effects. Of all possible hyperons, we consider only the contribution of Λs. We have developed two variants of hyperonic EoS tables: in the npΛφ case the repulsive hyperon-hyperon interaction mediated by the strange φ meson is taken into account, and in the npΛ case it is not. The EoS tables for the two cases encompass a wide range of densities (10{sup –12} to ∼1 fm{sup –3}), temperatures (0.1 to 158.48 MeV), and proton fractions (0.01 to 0.60). The effects of Λ hyperons on thermodynamic quantities such as free energy per baryon, pressure, or entropy per baryon are investigated and found to be significant at higher densities. The cold, β-equilibrated EoS (with the crust included self-consistently) results in a 2.1 M {sub ☉} maximum mass neutron star for the npΛφ case, whereas that for the npΛ case is 1.95 M {sub ☉}. The npΛφ EoS represents the first supernova EoS table involving hyperons that is directly compatible with the recently measured 2 M {sub ☉} neutron stars.

  8. A new class of g-modes in neutron stars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reisenegger, Andreas; Goldreich, Peter

    1992-01-01

    Because a neutron star is born hot, its internal composition is close to chemical equilibrium. In the fluid core, this implies that the ratio of the number densities of charged particles (protons and electrons) to neutrons is an increasing function of the mass density. This composition gradient stably stratifies the matter giving rise to a Brunt-Vaisala frequency N of about 500/s. Consequently, a neutron star core provides a cavity that supports gravity modes (g-modes). These g-modes are distinct from those previously identified with the thermal stratification of the surface layers and the chemical stratification of the crust. We compute the lowest-order, quadrupolar, g-modes for cold, Newtonian, neutron star models with M/solar M = 0.581 and M/solar M = 1.405, and show that the crustal and core g-modes have similar periods. We also discuss damping mechanisms and estimate damping rates for the core g-modes. Particular attention is paid to damping due to the emission of gravitational radiation.

  9. Constraining the neutron star equation of state using XMM-Newton

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kaastra, J.; Mendez, M.; In 't Zand, J. J. M.; Jonker, P.G.

    We have identified three possible ways in which future XMM-Newton observations can provide significant constraints on the equation of state of neutron stars. First, using a long observation of the neutron star X-ray transient Cen X-4 in quiescence one can use the RGS spectrum to constrain the

  10. Constraining the neutron star equation of state using XMM-Newton

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jonker, P.G.; Kaastra, J.S.; Méndez, M.; in 't Zand, J.J.M.

    2008-01-01

    We have identified three possible ways in which future XMM-Newton observations can provide significant constraints on the equation of state of neutron stars. First, using a long observation of the neutron star X-ray transient Cen X-4 in quiescence one can use the RGS spectrum to constrain the

  11. THE FATE OF THE COMPACT REMNANT IN NEUTRON STAR MERGERS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fryer, Chris L. [Department of Physics, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States); Belczynski, Krzysztoff [Astronomical Observatory, University of Warsaw, Al Ujazdowskie 4, 00-478 Warsaw (Poland); Ramirez-Ruiz, Enrico [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 (United States); Rosswog, Stephan [The Oskar klein Center, Department of Astronomy, AlbaNova, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm (Sweden); Shen, Gang [Institute for Nuclear Theory, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195 (United States); Steiner, Andrew W. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996 (United States)

    2015-10-10

    Neutron star (binary neutron star and neutron star–black hole) mergers are believed to produce short-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). They are also believed to be the dominant source of gravitational waves to be detected by the advanced LIGO and advanced VIRGO and the dominant source of the heavy r-process elements in the universe. Whether or not these mergers produce short-duration GRBs depends sensitively on the fate of the core of the remnant (whether, and how quickly, it forms a black hole). In this paper, we combine the results of Newtonian merger calculations and equation of state studies to determine the fate of the cores of neutron star mergers. Using population studies, we can determine the distribution of these fates to compare to observations. We find that black hole cores form quickly only for equations of state that predict maximum non-rotating neutron star masses below 2.3–2.4 solar masses. If quick black hole formation is essential in producing GRBs, LIGO/Virgo observed rates compared to GRB rates could be used to constrain the equation of state for dense nuclear matter.

  12. Merger of white dwarf-neutron star binaries: Prelude to hydrodynamic simulations in general relativity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Paschalidis, Vasileios; MacLeod, Morgan; Baumgarte, Thomas W.; Shapiro, Stuart L.

    2009-01-01

    White dwarf-neutron star binaries generate detectable gravitational radiation. We construct Newtonian equilibrium models of corotational white dwarf-neutron star (WDNS) binaries in circular orbit and find that these models terminate at the Roche limit. At this point the binary will undergo either stable mass transfer (SMT) and evolve on a secular time scale, or unstable mass transfer (UMT), which results in the tidal disruption of the WD. The path a given binary will follow depends primarily on its mass ratio. We analyze the fate of known WDNS binaries and use population synthesis results to estimate the number of LISA-resolved galactic binaries that will undergo either SMT or UMT. We model the quasistationary SMT epoch by solving a set of simple ordinary differential equations and compute the corresponding gravitational waveforms. Finally, we discuss in general terms the possible fate of binaries that undergo UMT and construct approximate Newtonian equilibrium configurations of merged WDNS remnants. We use these configurations to assess plausible outcomes of our future, fully relativistic simulations of these systems. If sufficient WD debris lands on the NS, the remnant may collapse, whereby the gravitational waves from the inspiral, merger, and collapse phases will sweep from LISA through LIGO frequency bands. If the debris forms a disk about the NS, it may fragment and form planets.

  13. Constraining the radius of neutron stars through the moment of inertia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Greif, S.K.

    2017-01-01

    Neutron star observations provide systematic constraints on the nuclear equation of state like the recent discovery of 2 M neutron stars. While neutron star masses can be measured very precisely, their radii are inherently difficult to measure due to the influence from large systematic uncertainties. A promising alternative access to this information is the moment of inertia, which provides constraints for both radii and the equation of state. This will be possible in the future using pulsar timing observations. We present a theoretical framework for calculating moments of inertia microscopically. We use state-of-the-art equations of state that are based on chiral effective field theory interactions and fulfill the requirements of causality and of reproducing 2 M neutron stars. This allows us to generate a large set of equations of state that predict combinations of masses, radii, and moments of inertia. We investigate the impact of a moment of inertia measurement on the radius within this general setup. Based on our results, we show how future measurements of moments of inertia constrain radii of neutron stars and thus the equation of state. (author)

  14. Studies of accreting and non-accreting neutron stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stollman, G.M.

    1987-01-01

    This thesis is divided into three parts. Part A is devoted to the statistical study of radio pulsars, in which the observations of nearly all known pulsars are used to study their properties such as magnetic field strengths, rotation periods, space velocities as well as their evolution in time. Part B is devoted to the modelling and understanding of quasi-periodic oscillations (QPO) in low-mass X-ray binaries. But, this study is mainly concerned with the accretion process in these sources, and one may hope to learn more about the neutron stars in these systems when the understanding of QPO is improved. In Part C the problem of 'super-Eddington luminosities' in X-ray burst sources is treated. The idea is that a good understanding of the burst process, which takes place directly at the surface of the neutron star, will eventually improve our understanding of the neutron stars themselves. (Auth.)

  15. Neutron star models with realistic high-density equations of state

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Malone, R.C.; Johnson, M.B.; Bethe, H.A.

    1975-01-01

    We calculate neutron star models using four realistic high-density models of the equation of state. We conclude that the maximum mass of a neutron star is unlikely to exceed 2 M/sub sun/. All of the realistic models are consistent with current estimates of the moment of inertia of the Crab pulsar

  16. THE INTERMEDIATE NEUTRON-CAPTURE PROCESS AND CARBON-ENHANCED METAL-POOR STARS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hampel, Melanie [Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg, Landessternwarte, Königstuhl 12, D-69117 Heidelberg (Germany); Stancliffe, Richard J. [Argelander-Institut für Astronomie, University of Bonn, Auf dem Hügel 71, D-53121 Bonn (Germany); Lugaro, Maria [Konkoly Observatory, Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, H-1121 Budapest (Hungary); Meyer, Bradley S., E-mail: mhampel@lsw.uni-heidelberg.de [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634-0978 (United States)

    2016-11-10

    Carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) stars in the Galactic Halo display enrichments in heavy elements associated with either the s (slow) or the r (rapid) neutron-capture process (e.g., barium and europium, respectively), and in some cases they display evidence of both. The abundance patterns of these CEMP- s / r stars, which show both Ba and Eu enrichment, are particularly puzzling, since the s and the r processes require neutron densities that are more than ten orders of magnitude apart and, hence, are thought to occur in very different stellar sites with very different physical conditions. We investigate whether the abundance patterns of CEMP- s / r stars can arise from the nucleosynthesis of the intermediate neutron-capture process (the i process), which is characterized by neutron densities between those of the s and the r processes. Using nuclear network calculations, we study neutron capture nucleosynthesis at different constant neutron densities n ranging from 10{sup 7}–10{sup 15} cm{sup -3}. With respect to the classical s process resulting from neutron densities on the lowest side of this range, neutron densities on the highest side result in abundance patterns, which show an increased production of heavy s -process and r -process elements, but similar abundances of the light s -process elements. Such high values of n may occur in the thermal pulses of asymptotic giant branch stars due to proton ingestion episodes. Comparison to the surface abundances of 20 CEMP- s / r stars shows that our modeled i -process abundances successfully reproduce observed abundance patterns, which could not be previously explained by s -process nucleosynthesis. Because the i -process models fit the abundances of CEMP- s / r stars so well, we propose that this class should be renamed as CEMP- i .

  17. Measuring the neutron star equation of state with gravitational wave observations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Read, Jocelyn S.; Markakis, Charalampos; Creighton, Jolien D. E.; Friedman, John L.; Shibata, Masaru; Uryu, Koji

    2009-01-01

    We report the results of a first study that uses numerical simulations to estimate the accuracy with which one can use gravitational wave observations of double neutron-star inspiral to measure parameters of the neutron-star equation of state. The simulations use the evolution and initial-data codes of Shibata and Uryu to compute the last several orbits and the merger of neutron stars, with matter described by a parametrized equation of state. Previous work suggested the use of an effective cutoff frequency to place constraints on the equation of state. We find, however, that greater accuracy is obtained by measuring departures from the point-particle limit of the gravitational waveform produced during the late inspiral. As the stars approach their final plunge and merger, the gravitational wave phase accumulates more rapidly for smaller values of the neutron-star compactness (the ratio of the mass of the neutron-star to its radius). We estimate that realistic equations of state will lead to gravitational waveforms that are distinguishable from point-particle inspirals at an effective distance (the distance to an optimally oriented and located system that would produce an equivalent waveform amplitude) of 100 Mpc or less. As Lattimer and Prakash observed, neutron-star radius is closely tied to the pressure at density not far above nuclear. Our results suggest that broadband gravitational wave observations at frequencies between 500 and 1000 Hz will constrain this pressure, and we estimate the accuracy with which it can be measured. Related first estimates of radius measurability show that the radius can be determined to an accuracy of δR∼1 km at 100 Mpc.

  18. Two-component Superfluid Hydrodynamics of Neutron Star Cores

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kobyakov, D. N. [Institute of Applied Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 603950 Nizhny Novgorod (Russian Federation); Pethick, C. J., E-mail: dmitry.kobyakov@appl.sci-nnov.ru, E-mail: pethick@nbi.dk [The Niels Bohr International Academy, The Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Blegdamsvej 17, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø (Denmark)

    2017-02-20

    We consider the hydrodynamics of the outer core of a neutron star under conditions when both neutrons and protons are superfluid. Starting from the equation of motion for the phases of the wave functions of the condensates of neutron pairs and proton pairs, we derive the generalization of the Euler equation for a one-component fluid. These equations are supplemented by the conditions for conservation of neutron number and proton number. Of particular interest is the effect of entrainment, the fact that the current of one nucleon species depends on the momenta per nucleon of both condensates. We find that the nonlinear terms in the Euler-like equation contain contributions that have not always been taken into account in previous applications of superfluid hydrodynamics. We apply the formalism to determine the frequency of oscillations about a state with stationary condensates and states with a spatially uniform counterflow of neutrons and protons. The velocities of the coupled sound-like modes of neutrons and protons are calculated from properties of uniform neutron star matter evaluated on the basis of chiral effective field theory. We also derive the condition for the two-stream instability to occur.

  19. Neutron star radii, universal relations, and the role of prior distributions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Steiner, A.W. [University of Tennessee, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Knoxville, TN (United States); Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Physics Division, Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Lattimer, J.M. [Stony Brook University, Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Stony Brook, NY (United States); Brown, E.F. [Michigan State University, Department of Physics and Astronomy, East Lansing, MI (United States); Michigan State University, The Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics-Center for the Evolution of the Elements, East Lansing, MI (United States); Michigan State University, National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory, East Lansing, MI (United States)

    2016-02-15

    We investigate constraints on neutron star structure arising from the assumptions that neutron stars have crusts, that recent calculations of pure neutron matter limit the equation of state of neutron star matter near the nuclear saturation density, that the high-density equation of state is limited by causality and the largest high-accuracy neutron star mass measurement, and that general relativity is the correct theory of gravity. We explore the role of prior assumptions by considering two classes of equation of state models. In a first, the intermediate- and high-density behavior of the equation of state is parameterized by piecewise polytropes. In the second class, the high-density behavior of the equation of state is parameterized by piecewise continuous line segments. The smallest density at which high-density matter appears is varied in order to allow for strong phase transitions above the nuclear saturation density. We critically examine correlations among the pressure of matter, radii, maximum masses, the binding energy, the moment of inertia, and the tidal deformability, paying special attention to the sensitivity of these correlations to prior assumptions about the equation of state. It is possible to constrain the radii of 1.4M {sub CircleDot} neutron stars to be larger than 10 km, even without consideration of additional astrophysical observations, for example, those from photospheric radius expansion bursts or quiescent low-mass X-ray binaries. We are able to improve the accuracy of known correlations between the moment of inertia and compactness as well as the binding energy and compactness. We also demonstrate the existence of a correlation between the neutron star binding energy and the moment of inertia. (orig.)

  20. On the origin of hyperfast neutron stars

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Gvaramadze, V.V.; Gualandris, A.; Portegies Zwart, S.

    2007-01-01

    We propose an explanation for the origin of hyperfast neutron stars (e.g. PSR B1508+55, PSR B2224+65, RX J0822-4300) based on the hypothesis that they could be the remnants of a symmetric supernova explosion of a high-velocity massive star (or its helium core) which attained its peculiar velocity

  1. Oscillations During Thermonuclear X-ray Bursts: A New Probe of Neutron Stars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strohmayer, Tod E.; White, Nicholas E. (Technical Monitor)

    2002-01-01

    Observations of thermonuclear (also called Type 1) X-ray bursts from neutron stars in low mass X-ray binaries (LMXB) with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) have revealed large amplitude, high coherence X-ray brightness oscillations with frequencies in the 300 - 600 Hz range. Substantial spectral and timing evidence point to rotational modulation of the X-ray burst flux as the cause of these oscillations, and it is likely that they reveal the spin frequencies of neutron stars in LMXB from which they are detected. Here we review the status of our knowledge of these oscillations and describe how they can be used to constrain the masses and radii of neutron stars as well as the physics of thermonuclear burning on accreting neutron stars.

  2. Relativistic motion of particle in photogravitational field of star

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zubko, O.L.

    2014-01-01

    Relativistic motion of particle in photogravitational field of star has been considered at different levels. It is shown that taking into account direct light pressure, elliptical orbit of the particle increases in sizes. Taking into account longitudinal Doppler effect and aberration of light leads to the motion of the particle by decreasing in size ellipse, which also has decreasing and eccentricity. Taking into account forces proportional to v 1 2 /c 2 leads to a faster reduction of the ellipse and its eccentricity. (authors)

  3. PALFA Discovery of a Highly Relativistic Double Neutron Star Binary

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stovall, K.; Freire, P. C. C.; Chatterjee, S.; Demorest, P. B.; Lorimer, D. R.; McLaughlin, M. A.; Pol, N.; van Leeuwen, J.; Wharton, R. S.; Allen, B.; Boyce, M.; Brazier, A.; Caballero, K.; Camilo, F.; Camuccio, R.; Cordes, J. M.; Crawford, F.; Deneva, J. S.; Ferdman, R. D.; Hessels, J. W. T.; Jenet, F. A.; Kaspi, V. M.; Knispel, B.; Lazarus, P.; Lynch, R.; Parent, E.; Patel, C.; Pleunis, Z.; Ransom, S. M.; Scholz, P.; Seymour, A.; Siemens, X.; Stairs, I. H.; Swiggum, J.; Zhu, W. W.

    2018-02-01

    We report the discovery and initial follow-up of a double neutron star (DNS) system, PSR J1946+2052, with the Arecibo L-Band Feed Array pulsar (PALFA) survey. PSR J1946+2052 is a 17 ms pulsar in a 1.88 hr, eccentric (e = 0.06) orbit with a ≳1.2 M ⊙ companion. We have used the Jansky Very Large Array to localize PSR J1946+2052 to a precision of 0.″09 using a new phase binning mode. We have searched multiwavelength catalogs for coincident sources but did not find any counterparts. The improved position enabled a measurement of the spin period derivative of the pulsar (\\dot{P}=9+/- 2× {10}-19); the small inferred magnetic field strength at the surface (B S = 4 × 109 G) indicates that this pulsar has been recycled. This and the orbital eccentricity lead to the conclusion that PSR J1946+2052 is in a DNS system. Among all known radio pulsars in DNS systems, PSR J1946+2052 has the shortest orbital period and the shortest estimated merger timescale, 46 Myr; at that time it will display the largest spin effects on gravitational-wave waveforms of any such system discovered to date. We have measured the advance of periastron passage for this system, \\dot{ω }=25.6+/- 0.3 \\deg {yr}}-1, implying a total system mass of only 2.50 ± 0.04 M ⊙, so it is among the lowest-mass DNS systems. This total mass measurement combined with the minimum companion mass constrains the pulsar mass to ≲1.3 M ⊙.

  4. Can a large neutron excess help solve the baryon loading problem in gamma-Ray burst fireballs?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fuller; Pruet; Abazajian

    2000-09-25

    We point out that the baryon loading problem in gamma-ray burst (GRB) models can be ameliorated if a significant fraction of the baryons which inertially confine the fireball is converted to neutrons. A high neutron fraction can result in a reduced transfer of energy from relativistic light particles in the fireball to baryons. The energy needed to produce the required relativistic flow in the GRB is consequently reduced, in some cases by orders of magnitude. A high neutron-to-proton ratio has been calculated in neutron star-merger fireball environments. Significant neutron excess also could occur near compact objects with high neutrino fluxes.

  5. Structure and thermal evolution of spinning-down neutron stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Negreiros, R.; Schramm, S.; Weber, F.

    2011-01-01

    In this paper we address the effects of spin-down on the cooling of neutron stars. During its evolution, stellar composition and structure might be substantially altered, as a result of spin-down and the consequent density increase. Since the timescale of cooling might be comparable to to that of the spin-evolution, the modifications to the structure/composition might have important effects on the thermal evolution of the object. We show that the direct Urca process might be delayed or supressed, when spin-down is taken into account. This leads to neutron stars with slow cooling, as opposed to enhanced cooling as would be the case if a "froze-in" structure and composition were considered. In conclusion we demonstrate that the inclusion of spin-down effects on the cooling of neutron stars have far-reaching implications for the interpretation of pulsars. (author)

  6. Neutron stars with equation of state given by nuclear Thomas-Fermi model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chung, K.C.; Kodama, T.

    1978-01-01

    A equation of state for neutron gas, based on Thomas-Fermi model, is used to recalculate the maximum mass of neutron stars. The complete equation of state is found to present a first order phase transition between the subnuclear regime without free neutron and the nuclear regime. This suggests that the sudden disintegration of the neutron-rich-nuclei may be very competitive with relation to the continuous neutron drip process. The mass limit for neutron stars was found to be 3.26 M 0 [pt

  7. A variational principle for the axisymmetric stability of rotating relativistic stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Prabhu, Kartik; Wald, Robert M; Schiffrin, Joshua S

    2016-01-01

    It is well known that all rotating perfect fluid stars in general relativity are unstable to certain non-axisymmetric perturbations via the Chandrasekhar–Friedman–Schutz (CFS) instability. However, the mechanism of the CFS instability requires, in an essential way, the loss of angular momentum by gravitational radiation and, in many instances, it acts on too long a timescale to be physically/astrophysically relevant. It is therefore of interest to examine the stability of rotating, relativistic stars to axisymmetric perturbations, where the CFS instability does not occur. In this paper, we provide a Rayleigh–Ritz-type variational principle for testing the stability of perfect fluid stars to axisymmetric perturbations, which generalizes to axisymmetric perturbations of rotating stars a variational principle given by Chandrasekhar for spherical perturbations of static, spherical stars. Our variational principle provides a lower bound to the rate of exponential growth in the case of instability. The derivation closely parallels the derivation of a recently obtained variational principle for analyzing the axisymmetric stability of black holes. (paper)

  8. WHEN CAN GRAVITATIONAL-WAVE OBSERVATIONS DISTINGUISH BETWEEN BLACK HOLES AND NEUTRON STARS?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hannam, Mark; Fairhurst, Stephen; Brown, Duncan A.; Fryer, Chris L.; Harry, Ian W.

    2013-01-01

    Gravitational-wave observations of compact binaries have the potential to uncover the distribution of masses and spins of black holes and neutron stars in the universe. The binary components' physical parameters can be inferred from their effect on the phasing of the gravitational-wave signal, but a partial degeneracy between the components' mass ratio and their spins limits our ability to measure the individual component masses. At the typical signal amplitudes expected by the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (signal-to-noise ratios between 10 and 20), we show that it will in many cases be difficult to distinguish whether the components are neutron stars or black holes. We identify when the masses of the binary components could be unambiguously measured outside the range of current observations: a system with a chirp mass M ≤ 0.871 M ☉ would unambiguously contain the smallest-mass neutron star observed, and a system with M ≥ 2.786 M ☉ must contain a black hole. However, additional information would be needed to distinguish between a binary containing two 1.35 M ☉ neutron stars and an exotic neutron-star-black-hole binary. We also identify those configurations that could be unambiguously identified as black hole binaries, and show how the observation of an electromagnetic counterpart to a neutron-star-black-hole binary could be used to constrain the black hole spin.

  9. Accretion of matter onto highly magnetized neutron stars: Final report, July 1-September 30, 1985

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hernquist, L.

    1986-06-01

    A final report is given of two research projects dealing with magnetic fields of neutron stars. These are the modulation of thermal x-rays from cooling neutron stars and plasma instabilities in neutron star accretion columns

  10. MONTE CARLO NEUTRINO TRANSPORT THROUGH REMNANT DISKS FROM NEUTRON STAR MERGERS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Richers, Sherwood; Ott, Christian D. [TAPIR, Mailcode 350-17, Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Kasen, Daniel; Fernández, Rodrigo [Department of Astronomy and Theoretical Astrophysics Center, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); O’Connor, Evan [Department of Physics, Campus Code 8202, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695 (United States)

    2015-11-01

    We present Sedonu, a new open source, steady-state, special relativistic Monte Carlo (MC) neutrino transport code, available at bitbucket.org/srichers/sedonu. The code calculates the energy- and angle-dependent neutrino distribution function on fluid backgrounds of any number of spatial dimensions, calculates the rates of change of fluid internal energy and electron fraction, and solves for the equilibrium fluid temperature and electron fraction. We apply this method to snapshots from two-dimensional simulations of accretion disks left behind by binary neutron star mergers, varying the input physics and comparing to the results obtained with a leakage scheme for the cases of a central black hole and a central hypermassive neutron star. Neutrinos are guided away from the densest regions of the disk and escape preferentially around 45° from the equatorial plane. Neutrino heating is strengthened by MC transport a few scale heights above the disk midplane near the innermost stable circular orbit, potentially leading to a stronger neutrino-driven wind. Neutrino cooling in the dense midplane of the disk is stronger when using MC transport, leading to a globally higher cooling rate by a factor of a few and a larger leptonization rate by an order of magnitude. We calculate neutrino pair annihilation rates and estimate that an energy of 2.8 × 10{sup 46} erg is deposited within 45° of the symmetry axis over 300 ms when a central BH is present. Similarly, 1.9 × 10{sup 48} erg is deposited over 3 s when an HMNS sits at the center, but neither estimate is likely to be sufficient to drive a gamma-ray burst jet.

  11. MONTE CARLO NEUTRINO TRANSPORT THROUGH REMNANT DISKS FROM NEUTRON STAR MERGERS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Richers, Sherwood; Ott, Christian D.; Kasen, Daniel; Fernández, Rodrigo; O’Connor, Evan

    2015-01-01

    We present Sedonu, a new open source, steady-state, special relativistic Monte Carlo (MC) neutrino transport code, available at bitbucket.org/srichers/sedonu. The code calculates the energy- and angle-dependent neutrino distribution function on fluid backgrounds of any number of spatial dimensions, calculates the rates of change of fluid internal energy and electron fraction, and solves for the equilibrium fluid temperature and electron fraction. We apply this method to snapshots from two-dimensional simulations of accretion disks left behind by binary neutron star mergers, varying the input physics and comparing to the results obtained with a leakage scheme for the cases of a central black hole and a central hypermassive neutron star. Neutrinos are guided away from the densest regions of the disk and escape preferentially around 45° from the equatorial plane. Neutrino heating is strengthened by MC transport a few scale heights above the disk midplane near the innermost stable circular orbit, potentially leading to a stronger neutrino-driven wind. Neutrino cooling in the dense midplane of the disk is stronger when using MC transport, leading to a globally higher cooling rate by a factor of a few and a larger leptonization rate by an order of magnitude. We calculate neutrino pair annihilation rates and estimate that an energy of 2.8 × 10 46 erg is deposited within 45° of the symmetry axis over 300 ms when a central BH is present. Similarly, 1.9 × 10 48 erg is deposited over 3 s when an HMNS sits at the center, but neither estimate is likely to be sufficient to drive a gamma-ray burst jet

  12. Unified description of astrophysical properties of neutron stars independent of the equation of state

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pappas, George

    2015-12-01

    In recent years, a lot of work was done that has revealed some very interesting properties of neutron stars. One can relate the first few multipole moments of a neutron star, or quantities that can be derived from them, with relations that are independent of the equation of state (EoS). This is a very significant result that has great implications for the description of neutron stars and in particular for the description of the spacetime around them. Additionally, it was recently shown that there is a four-parameter analytic spacetime, known as the two-soliton spacetime, which can accurately capture the properties of the geometry around neutron stars. This allows for the possibility of describing in a unified formalism the astrophysically relevant properties of the spacetime around a neutron star independently of the particulars of the EoS for the matter of the star. More precisely, the description of these astrophysical properties is done using an EoS omniscient spacetime that can describe the exterior of any neutron star. In the present work, we investigate properties such as the location of the innermost stable circular orbit RISCO (or the surface of the star when the latter overcomes the former), the various frequencies of perturbed circular equatorial geodesics, the efficiency of an accretion disc, its temperature distribution, and other properties associated with the emitted radiation from the disc, in a way that holds for all possible choices of a realistic EoS for the neutron star. Furthermore, we provide proof of principle that if one were to measure the right combinations of pairs of these properties, with the additional knowledge of the mass of the neutron star, one could determine the EoS of the star.

  13. Spontaneous scalarization with an extremely massive field and heavy neutron stars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morisaki, Soichiro; Suyama, Teruaki

    2017-10-01

    We investigate the internal structure and the mass-radius relation of neutron stars in a recently proposed scalar-tensor theory dubbed asymmetron in which a massive scalar field undergoes spontaneous scalarization inside neutron stars. We focus on the case where the Compton wavelength is shorter than 10 km, which has not been investigated in the literature. By solving the modified Einstein equations, either purely numerically or by partially using a semianalytic method, we find that not only the weakening of gravity by spontaneous scalarization but also the scalar force affect the internal structure significantly in the massive case. We also find that the maximum mass of neutron stars is larger for certain parameter sets than that in general relativity and reaches 2 M⊙ even if the effect of strange hadrons is taken into account. There is even a range of parameters where the maximum mass of neutron stars largely exceeds the threshold that violates the causality bound in general relativity.

  14. The Aftermath of GW170817: Neutron Star or Black Hole?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kohler, Susanna

    2018-06-01

    When two neutron stars merged in August of last year, leading to the first simultaneous detection of gravitational waves and electromagnetic signals, we knew this event was going to shed new light on compact-object mergers.A team of scientists says we now have an answer to one of the biggest mysteries of GW170817: after the neutron stars collided, what object was formed?Artists illustration of the black hole that resulted from GW170817. Some of the material accreting onto the black hole is flung out in a tightly collimated jet. [NASA/CXC/M.Weiss]A Fuzzy DivisionBased on gravitational-wave observations, we know that two neutron stars of about 1.48 and 1.26 solar masses merged in GW170817. But the result an object of 2.7 solar masses doesnt have a definitive identity; the remnant formed in the merger is either the most massive neutron star known or the least massive black hole known.The theoretical mass division between neutron stars and black holes is fuzzy, depending strongly on what model you use to describe the physics of these objects. Observations fall short as well: the most massive neutron star known is perhaps 2.3 solar masses, and the least massive black hole is perhaps 4 or 5, leaving the location of the dividing line unclear. For this reason, determining the nature of GW170817s remnant is an important target as we analyze past observations of the remnant and continue to make new ones.Chandra images of the field of GW170817 during three separate epochs. Each image is 30 x 30. [Adapted from Pooley et al. 2018]Luckily, we may not have long to wait! Led by David Pooley (Trinity University and Eureka Scientific, Inc.), a team of scientists has obtained new Chandra X-ray observations of the remnant of GW170817. By combining this new data with previous observations, the authors have drawn conclusions about what object was left behind after this fateful merger.X-Rays Provide AnswersX-ray radiation is generated in a merger of two neutron stars when the mergers

  15. Gravitational waves from rotating neutron stars and evaluation of fast chirp transform techniques

    CERN Document Server

    Strohmayer, T E

    2002-01-01

    X-ray observations suggest that neutron stars in low mass x-ray binaries (LMXB) are rotating with frequencies in the range 300-600 Hz. These spin rates are significantly less than the break-up rates for essentially all realistic neutron star equations of state, suggesting that some process may limit the spin frequencies of accreting neutron stars to this range. If the accretion-induced spin up torque is in equilibrium with gravitational radiation losses, these objects could be interesting sources of gravitational waves. I present a brief summary of current measurements of neutron star spins in LMXBs based on the observations of high-Q oscillations during thermonuclear bursts (so-called 'burst oscillations'). Further measurements of neutron star spins will be important in exploring the gravitational radiation hypothesis in more detail. To this end, I also present a study of fast chirp transform (FCT) techniques as described by Jenet and Prince (Prince T A and Jenet F A 2000 Phys. Rev. D 62 122001) in the conte...

  16. Cosmic matrix in the jubilee of relativistic astrophysics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ruffini, R., E-mail: ruffini@icra.it [Dip. di Fisica, Sapienza University of Rome and ICRA Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, I–00185, Rome (Italy); ICRANet, Piazza della Repubblica 10, I–65122 Pescara (Italy); Université de Nice Sophie Antipolis, Nice, CEDEX 2, Grand Château Parc Valrose (France); ICRANet-Rio, Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas, Rua Dr. Xavier Sigaud 150, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 22290–180 (Brazil); Aimuratov, Y.; Enderli, M.; Kovacevic, M. [Dip. di Fisica, Sapienza University of Rome and ICRA Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, I–00185, Rome (Italy); Université de Nice Sophie Antipolis, Nice, CEDEX 2, Grand Château Parc Valrose (France); Belinski, V.; Bianco, C. L.; Izzo, L.; Moradi, R.; Muccino, M.; Rueda, J. A.; Vereshchagin, G. V.; Wang, Y.; Xue, S.-S. [Dip. di Fisica, Sapienza University of Rome and ICRA Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, I–00185, Rome (Italy); ICRANet, Piazza della Repubblica 10, I–65122 Pescara (Italy); Mathews, G. J. [ICRANet, Piazza della Repubblica 10, I–65122 Pescara (Italy); Center for Astrophysics, University of Notre Dame, US (United States); Penacchioni, A. V. [INPE - Av. dos Astronautas, 1758 - Sao Jose dos Campos - Sao Paulo – Brazil (Brazil); Pisani, G. B. [Dip. di Fisica, Sapienza University of Rome and ICRA Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, I–00185, Rome (Italy)

    2015-12-17

    Following the classical works on Neutron Stars, Black Holes and Cosmology, I outline some recent results obtained in the IRAP-PhD program of ICRANet on the “Cosmic Matrix”: a new astrophysical phenomenon recorded by the X- and Gamma-Ray satellites and by the largest ground based optical telescopes all over our planet. In 3 minutes it has been recorded the occurrence of a “Supernova”, the “Induced-Gravitational-Collapse” on a Neutron Star binary, the formation of a “Black Hole”, and the creation of a “Newly Born Neutron Star”. This presentation is based on a document describing activities of ICRANet and recent developments of the paradigm of the Cosmic Matrix in the comprehension of Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) presented on the occasion of the Fourteenth Marcel Grossmann Meeting on Recent Developments in Theoretical and Experimental General Relativity, Gravitation, and Relativistic Field Theory. A Portuguese version of this document can be downloaded at: http://www.icranet.org/documents/brochure{sub i}cranet{sub p}t.pdf.

  17. Black holes and neutron stars: evolution of binary systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kraft, R.P.

    1975-01-01

    Evidence for the existence of neutron stars and black holes in binary systems has been reviewed, and the following summarizes the current situation: (1) No statistically significant case has been made for the proposition that black holes and/or neutron stars contribute to the population of unseen companions of ordinary spectroscopic binaries; (2) Plausible evolutionary scenarios can be advanced that place compact X-ray sources into context as descendants of several common types of mass-exchange binaries. The collapse object may be a black hole, a neutron star, or a white dwarf, depending mostly on the mass of the original primary; (3) The rotating neutron star model for the pulsating X-ray sources Her X-1 and Cen X-3 is the simplest interpretation of these objects, but the idea that the pulsations result from the non-radial oscillations of a white dwarf cannot be altogether dismissed. The latter is particularly attractive in the case of Her X-1 because the total mass of the system is small; (4) The black hole picture for Cyg X-1 represents the simplest model that can presently be put forward to explain the observations. This does not insure its correctness, however. The picture depends on a long chain of inferences, some of which are by no means unassailable. (Auth.)

  18. Constraints on perturbative f(R) gravity via neutron stars

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Arapoğlu, Savaş; Ekşi, K. Yavuz [İstanbul Technical University, Faculty of Science and Letters, Physics Engineering Department, Maslak 34469, İstanbul (Turkey); Deliduman, Cemsinan, E-mail: arapoglu@itu.edu.tr, E-mail: cemsinan@msgsu.edu.tr, E-mail: eksi@itu.edu.tr [Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Department of Physics, Beşiktaş 34349, İstanbul (Turkey)

    2011-07-01

    We study the structure of neutron stars in perturbative f(R) gravity models with realistic equations of state. We obtain mass-radius relations in a gravity model of the form f(R) = R+αR{sup 2}. We find that deviations from the results of general relativity, comparable to the variations due to using different equations of state (EoS'), are induced for |α| ∼ 10{sup 9} cm{sup 2}. Some of the soft EoS' that are excluded within the framework of general relativity can be reconciled with the 2 solar mass neutron star recently observed for certain values of α within this range. For some of the EoS' we find that a new solution branch, which allows highly massive neutron stars, exists for values of α greater than a few 10{sup 9} cm{sup 2}. We find constraints on α for a variety of EoS' using the recent observational constraints on the mass-radius relation. These are all 5 orders of magnitude smaller than the recent constraint obtained via Gravity Probe B for this gravity model. The associated length scale √(alpha)approx 10{sup 5} cm is only an order of magnitude smaller than the typical radius of a neutron star, the probe used in this test. This implies that real deviations from general relativity can be even smaller.

  19. Polarized X-Ray Emission from Magnetized Neutron Stars: Signature of Strong-Field Vacuum Polarization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lai, Dong; Ho, Wynn C.

    2003-08-01

    In the atmospheric plasma of a strongly magnetized neutron star, vacuum polarization can induce a Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein type resonance across which an x-ray photon may (depending on its energy) convert from one mode into the other, with significant changes in opacities and polarizations. We show that this vacuum resonance effect gives rise to a unique energy-dependent polarization signature in the surface emission from neutron stars. The detection of polarized x rays from neutron stars can provide a direct probe of strong-field quantum electrodynamics and constrain the neutron star magnetic field and geometry.

  20. Polarized x-ray emission from magnetized neutron stars: signature of strong-field vacuum polarization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lai, Dong; Ho, Wynn C G

    2003-08-15

    In the atmospheric plasma of a strongly magnetized neutron star, vacuum polarization can induce a Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein type resonance across which an x-ray photon may (depending on its energy) convert from one mode into the other, with significant changes in opacities and polarizations. We show that this vacuum resonance effect gives rise to a unique energy-dependent polarization signature in the surface emission from neutron stars. The detection of polarized x rays from neutron stars can provide a direct probe of strong-field quantum electrodynamics and constrain the neutron star magnetic field and geometry.

  1. Neutron star matter equation of state: current status and challenges

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ohnishi, Akira

    2014-09-01

    Neutron star matter has a variety of constituents and structures depending on the density; neutron-rich nuclei surounded by electrons and drip neutrons in the crust, pasta nuclei at the bottom of inner crust, and uniform isospin-asymmetric nuclear matter in a superfluid state in the outer core. In the inner core, the neutron Fermi energy becomes so large that exotic constituents such as hyperons, mesons and quarks may emerge. Radioactive beam and hypernuclear experiments provide information on the symmetry energy and superfluidity in the crust and outer core and on the hyperon potentials in the inner core, respectively. Cold atom experiments are also helpful to understand pure neutron matter, which may be simulated by the unitary gas. An equation of state (EOS) constructed based on these laboratory experiments has to be verified by the astronomical observations such as the mass, radius, and oscillations of neutron stars. One of the key but missing ingredients is the three-baryon interactions such as the hyperon-hyperon-nucleon (YYN) interaction. YYN interaction is important in order to explain the recently discovered massive neutron stars consistently with laboratory experiments. We have recently found that the ΛΛ interaction extracted from the ΛΛ correlation at RHIC is somewhat stronger than that from double Λ hypernuclei. Since these two interactions corresponds to the vacuum and in-medium ΛΛ interactions, respectively, the difference may tell us a possible way to access the YYN interaction based on experimental data. In the presentation, after a review on the current status of neutron star matter EOS studies, we discuss the necessary tasks to pin down the EOS. We also present our recent study of ΛΛ interaction from correlation data at RHIC.

  2. Wave functions for a relativistic electron in superstrong magnetic fields

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dumitrescu, Gh.

    2003-01-01

    In the past decade few authors attempted to search interesting features of the radiation of a specific neutron star, the magnetar. In this paper we investigate some features of the motion of an electron in a strong magnetic field as it occurs in a magnetar atmosphere. We have applied the conditions of the super relativistic electrons in super-strong magnetic fields proposed by Gonthier et al. to express two specific spin operators and their eigenfunctions. We have done this in order to investigate into a further paper an estimation of the cross section in Compton process in strong and superstrong magnetic fields in relativistic regime. (author)

  3. Quark matter inside neutron stars in an effective chiral model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kotlorz, A.; Kutschera, M.

    1994-02-01

    An effective chiral model which describes properties of a single baryon predicts that the quark matter relevant to neutron stars, close to the deconfinement density, is in a chirally broken phase. We find the SU(2) model that pion-condensed up and down quark matter is preferred energetically at neutron star densities. It exhibits spin ordering and can posses a permanent magnetization. The equation of state of quark matter with chiral condensate is very well approximated by bag model equation of the state with suitably chosen parameters. We study quark cores inside neutron stars in this model using realistic nucleon equations of state. The biggest quark core corresponds to the second order phase transition to quark matter. Magnetic moment of the pion-condensed quark core is calculated. (author). 19 refs, 10 refs, 1 tab

  4. Testing the deep-crustal heating model using quiescent neutron-star very-faint X-ray transients and the possibility of partially accreted crusts in accreting neutron stars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wijnands, R.; Degenaar, N.; Page, D.

    2013-07-01

    It is assumed that accreting neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binaries are heated due to the compression of the existing crust by the freshly accreted matter which gives rise to a variety of nuclear reactions in the crust. It has been shown that most of the energy is released deep in the crust by pycnonuclear reactions involving low-Z elements (the deep-crustal heating scenario). In this paper we discuss if neutron stars in the so-called very-faint X-ray transients (VFXTs; those transients have outburst peak 2-10 keV X-ray luminosities short-term (less than a few tens of thousands of years) and the one throughout their lifetime. The latter is particularly important because it can be so low that the neutron stars might not have accreted enough matter to become massive enough that enhanced core cooling processes become active. Therefore, they could be relatively warm compared to other systems for which such enhanced cooling processes have been inferred. However, the amount of matter can also not be too low because then the crust might not have been replaced significantly by accreted matter and thus a hybrid crust of partly accreted and partly original, albeit further compressed matter, might be present. This would inhibit the full range of pycnonuclear reactions to occur and therefore possibly decrease the amount of heat deposited in the crust. More detailed calculations of the heating and cooling properties of such hybrid crusts have to be performed to be conclusive. Furthermore, better understanding is needed about how a hybrid crust affects other properties such as the thermal conductivity. A potentially interesting way to observe the effects of a hybrid crust on the heating and cooling of an accreting neutron star is to observe the crust cooling of such a neutron star after a prolonged (years to decades) accretion episode and compare the results with similar studies performed for neutron stars with a fully accreted crust. We also show that some individual neutron-star

  5. Mesonic and Quark Degrees of Freedom in the Neutron Star Matter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kubis, S.; Kutschera, M.; Niemiec, J.; Stachniewicz, S.

    1999-01-01

    Full text: It is expected that mesonic and quark degrees of freedom may play an important role in the physics of dense matter in neutron stars. Any conclusions, however, as to the presence of e.g. meson condensates and/or quark matter inside neutron stars are subject to uncertainties which reflect incompatible model predictions at a purely nucleon level. In our project, as far as mesonic contributions to the equation of state of dense matter are concerned, we focus on the role of kaons and the isovector scalar meson a 0 (980). We find that a threshold density for the kaon condensate to form is very sensitive to a high density behaviour of the electron chemical potential, which is not well known due to uncertainties of nucleon-nucleon interactions. An important effect of the inclusion of the a 0 meson is a splitting of proton and neutron masses in the neutron star matter. A proper construction of the nucleon-quark phase transition in dense neutron star matter predicts that nucleons and quarks coexist over a finite range of pressure, with quarks (nucleons) filling gradually larger (smaller) fraction of space. We find, using a simple bag-model equation of state for the quark matter, that properties of such a mixed quark-nucleon phase are determined by the behaviour of nucleon matter isobars which is sensitive to the nuclear symmetry energy at high densities. We study also implications of the presence of a mixed phase for the structure of neutron stars. (author)

  6. Gamow's calculation of the neutron star's critical mass revised

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ludwig, Hendrik; Ruffini, Remo

    2014-01-01

    It has at times been indicated that Landau introduced neutron stars in his classic paper of 1932. This is clearly impossible because the discovery of the neutron by Chadwick was submitted more than one month after Landau's work. Therefore, and according to his calculations, what Landau really did was to study white dwarfs, and the critical mass he obtained clearly matched the value derived by Stoner and later by Chandrasekhar. The birth of the concept of a neutron star is still today unclear. Clearly, in 1934, the work of Baade and Zwicky pointed to neutron stars as originating from supernovae. Oppenheimer in 1939 is also well known to have introduced general relativity (GR) in the study of neutron stars. The aim of this note is to point out that the crucial idea for treating the neutron star has been advanced in Newtonian theory by Gamow. However, this pioneering work was plagued by mistakes. The critical mass he should have obtained was 6.9 M, not the one he declared, namely, 1.5 M. Probably, he was taken to this result by the work of Landau on white dwarfs. We revise Gamow's calculation of the critical mass regarding calculational and conceptual aspects and discuss whether it is justified to consider it the first neutron-star critical mass. We compare Gamow's approach to other early and modern approaches to the problem.

  7. Bubbles, Bow Shocks and B Fields: The Interplay Between Neutron Stars and Their Environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gaensler, Bryan M.

    2006-12-01

    Young neutron stars embody Nature's extremes: they spin incredibly rapidly, move through space at enormous velocities, and are imbued with unimaginably strong magnetic fields. Since their progenitor stars do not have any of these characteristics, these properties are presumably all imparted to a neutron star during or shortly after the supernova explosion in which it is formed. This raises two fundamental questions: how do neutron stars attain these extreme parameters, and how are their vast reservoirs of energy then dissipated? I will explain how multi-wavelength observations of the environments of neutron stars not only provide vital forensic evidence on the physics of supernova core collapse, but also spectacularly reveal the winds, jets, shocks and outflows through which these remarkable objects couple to their surroundings.

  8. Neutron Star Models in Alternative Theories of Gravity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Manolidis, Dimitrios

    We study the structure of neutron stars in a broad class of alternative theories of gravity. In particular, we focus on Scalar-Tensor theories and f(R) theories of gravity. We construct static and slowly rotating numerical star models for a set of equations of state, including a polytropic model and more realistic equations of state motivated by nuclear physics. Observable quantities such as masses, radii, etc are calculated for a set of parameters of the theories. Specifically for Scalar-Tensor theories, we also calculate the sensitivities of the mass and moment of inertia of the models to variations in the asymptotic value of the scalar field at infinity. These quantities enter post-Newtonian equations of motion and gravitational waveforms of two body systems that are used for gravitational-wave parameter estimation, in order to test these theories against observations. The construction of numerical models of neutron stars in f(R) theories of gravity has been difficult in the past. Using a new formalism by Jaime, Patino and Salgado we were able to construct models with high interior pressure, namely pc > rho c/3, both for constant density models and models with a polytropic equation of state. Thus, we have shown that earlier objections to f(R) theories on the basis of the inability to construct viable neutron star models are unfounded.

  9. NuSTAR + XMM-Newton monitoring of the neutron star transient AX J1745.6-2901

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ponti, G.; Bianchi, S.; Muñoz-Darias, T.; Mori, K.; De, K.; Rau, A.; De Marco, B.; Hailey, C.; Tomsick, J.; Madsen, K. K.; Clavel, M.; Rahoui, F.; Lal, D. V.; Roy, S.; Stern, D.

    2018-01-01

    AX J1745.6-2901 is a high-inclination (eclipsing) transient neutron star (NS) low-mass X-ray binary showcasing intense ionized Fe K absorption. We present here the analysis of 11 XMM-Newton and 15 NuSTAR new data sets (obtained between 2013 and 2016), therefore tripling the number of observations of AX J1745.6-2901 in outburst. Thanks to simultaneous XMM-Newton and NuSTAR spectra, we greatly improve on the fitting of the X-ray continuum. During the soft state, the emission can be described by a disc blackbody (kT ∼ 1.1-1.2 keV and inner disc radius rDBB ∼ 14 km), plus hot (kT ∼ 2.2-3.0 keV) blackbody radiation with a small emitting radius (rBB ∼ 0.5 - 0.8 km) likely associated with the boundary layer or NS surface, plus a faint Comptonization component. Imprinted on the spectra are clear absorption features created by both neutral and ionized matter. Additionally, positive residuals suggestive of an emission Fe K α disc line and consistent with relativistic ionized reflection are present during the soft state, while such residuals are not significant during the hard state. The hard-state spectra are characterized by a hard (Γ ∼ 1.9-2.1) power law, showing no evidence for a high energy cut-off (kTe > 60-140 keV) and implying a small optical depth (τ < 1.6). The new observations confirm the previously witnessed trend of exhibiting strong Fe K absorption in the soft state that significantly weakens during the hard state. Optical (GROND) and radio (GMRT) observations suggest for AX J1745.6-2901 a standard broad-band spectral energy distribution as typically observed in accreting NSs.

  10. Neutron-Star Merger Detected By Many Eyes and Ears

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kohler, Susanna

    2017-10-01

    Where were you on Thursday, 17 August 2017? I was in Idaho, getting ready for Monday mornings solar eclipse. What I didnt know was that, at the time, around 70 teams around the world were mobilizing to point their ground- and space-based telescopes at a single patch of sky suspected to host the first gravitational-wave-detected merger of two neutron stars.Sudden Leaps for ScienceThe masses for black holes detected through electromagnetic observations (purple), black holes measured by gravitational-wave observations (blue), neutron stars measured with electromagnetic observations (yellow), and the neutron stars that merged in GW170817 (orange). [LIGO-Virgo/Frank Elavsky/NorthwesternUniversity]The process of science is long and arduous, generally occurring at a slow plod as theorists make predictions, and observations are then used to chip away at these theories, gradually confirming or disproving them. It is rare that science progresses forward in a giant leap, with years upon years of theories confirmed in one fell swoop.14 September 2015 marked the day of one such leap, as the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) detected gravitational waves for the first time simultaneously verifying that black holes exist, that black-hole binaries exist, and that they can merge on observable timescales, emitting signals that directly confirm the predictions of general relativity.As it turns out, 17 August 2017 was another such day. On this day, LIGO observed a gravitational-wave signal unlike its previous black-hole detections. Instead, this was a signal consistent with the merger of two neutron stars.Artists illustrations of the stellar-merger model for short gamma-ray bursts. In the model, 1) two neutron stars inspiral, 2) they merge and produce a gamma-ray burst, 3) a small fraction of their mass is flung out and radiates as a kilonova, 4) a massive neutron star or black hole with a disk remains after the event. [NASA, ESA, and A. Feild (STScI)]What We

  11. Search for dark matter effects on gravitational signals from neutron star mergers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ellis, John; Hektor, Andi; Hütsi, Gert; Kannike, Kristjan; Marzola, Luca; Raidal, Martti; Vaskonen, Ville

    2018-06-01

    Motivated by the recent detection of the gravitational wave signal emitted by a binary neutron star merger, we analyse the possible impact of dark matter on such signals. We show that dark matter cores in merging neutron stars may yield an observable supplementary peak in the gravitational wave power spectral density following the merger, which could be distinguished from the features produced by the neutron components.

  12. Search for dark matter effects on gravitational signals from neutron star mergers

    OpenAIRE

    Ellis, John; Hektor, Andi; Hütsi, Gert; Kannike, Kristjan; Marzola, Luca; Raidal, Martti; Vaskonen, Ville

    2018-01-01

    Motivated by the recent detection of the gravitational wave signal emitted by a binary neutron star merger, we analyse the possible impact of dark matter on such signals. We show that dark matter cores in merging neutron stars may yield an observable supplementary peak in the gravitational wave power spectral density following the merger, which could be distinguished from the features produced by the neutron components.

  13. arXiv Gravitational-wave constraints on the neutron-star-matter Equation of State

    CERN Document Server

    Annala, Eemeli; Kurkela, Aleksi; Vuorinen, Aleksi

    The LIGO/Virgo detection of gravitational waves originating from a neutron-star merger, GW170817, has recently provided new stringent limits on the tidal deformabilities of the stars involved in the collision. Combining this measurement with the existence of two-solar-mass stars, we generate a generic family of neutron-star-matter Equations of State (EoSs) that interpolate between state-of-the-art theoretical results at low and high baryon density. Comparing the results to ones obtained without the tidal-deformability constraint, we witness a dramatic reduction in the family of allowed EoSs. Based on our analysis, we conclude that the maximal radius of a 1.4-solar-mass neutron star is 13.6 km, and that smallest allowed tidal deformability of a similar-mass star is $\\Lambda(1.4 M_\\odot) = 120$.

  14. Effective interaction: From nuclear reactions to neutron stars

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    pact stars. The nuclear EoS for β-equilibrated neutron star (NS) matter obtained using density-dependent effective nucleon–nucleon interaction satisfies the constraints from the observed flow data from heavy-ion collisions. The energy density of quark matter is lower than that of the nuclear EoS at higher densities implying ...

  15. In what sense a neutron star-black hole binary is the holy grail for testing gravity?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bagchi, Manjari; Torres, Diego F.

    2014-01-01

    Pulsars in binary systems have been very successful to test the validity of general relativity in the strong field regime [1-4]. So far, such binaries include neutron star-white dwarf (NS-WD) and neutron star-neutron star (NS-NS) systems. It is commonly believed that a neutron star-black hole (NS-BH) binary will be much superior for this purpose. But in what sense is this true? Does it apply to all possible deviations?

  16. Self-gravitating axially symmetric disks in general-relativistic rotation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karkowski, Janusz; Kulczycki, Wojciech; Mach, Patryk; Malec, Edward; Odrzywołek, Andrzej; Piróg, Michał

    2018-05-01

    We integrate numerically axially symmetric stationary Einstein equations describing self-gravitating disks around spinless black holes. The numerical scheme is based on a method developed by Shibata, but contains important new ingredients. We derive a new general-relativistic Keplerian rotation law for self-gravitating disks around spinning black holes. Former results concerning rotation around spinless black holes emerge in the limit of a vanishing spin parameter. These rotation curves might be used for the description of rotating stars, after appropriate modification around the symmetry axis. They can be applied to the description of compact torus-black hole configurations, including active galactic nuclei or products of coalescences of two neutron stars.

  17. Effects of Neutron-Star Dynamic Tides on Gravitational Waveforms within the Effective-One-Body Approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hinderer, Tanja; Taracchini, Andrea; Foucart, Francois; Buonanno, Alessandra; Steinhoff, Jan; Duez, Matthew; Kidder, Lawrence E; Pfeiffer, Harald P; Scheel, Mark A; Szilagyi, Bela; Hotokezaka, Kenta; Kyutoku, Koutarou; Shibata, Masaru; Carpenter, Cory W

    2016-05-06

    Extracting the unique information on ultradense nuclear matter from the gravitational waves emitted by merging neutron-star binaries requires robust theoretical models of the signal. We develop a novel effective-one-body waveform model that includes, for the first time, dynamic (instead of only adiabatic) tides of the neutron star as well as the merger signal for neutron-star-black-hole binaries. We demonstrate the importance of the dynamic tides by comparing our model against new numerical-relativity simulations of nonspinning neutron-star-black-hole binaries spanning more than 24 gravitational-wave cycles, and to other existing numerical simulations for double neutron-star systems. Furthermore, we derive an effective description that makes explicit the dependence of matter effects on two key parameters: tidal deformability and fundamental oscillation frequency.

  18. Effects of Neutron-Star Dynamic Tides on Gravitational Waveforms within the Effective-One-Body Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hinderer, Tanja; Taracchini, Andrea; Foucart, Francois; Buonanno, Alessandra; Steinhoff, Jan; Duez, Matthew; Kidder, Lawrence E.; Pfeiffer, Harald P.; Scheel, Mark A.; Szilagyi, Bela; Hotokezaka, Kenta; Kyutoku, Koutarou; Shibata, Masaru; Carpenter, Cory W.

    2016-05-01

    Extracting the unique information on ultradense nuclear matter from the gravitational waves emitted by merging neutron-star binaries requires robust theoretical models of the signal. We develop a novel effective-one-body waveform model that includes, for the first time, dynamic (instead of only adiabatic) tides of the neutron star as well as the merger signal for neutron-star-black-hole binaries. We demonstrate the importance of the dynamic tides by comparing our model against new numerical-relativity simulations of nonspinning neutron-star-black-hole binaries spanning more than 24 gravitational-wave cycles, and to other existing numerical simulations for double neutron-star systems. Furthermore, we derive an effective description that makes explicit the dependence of matter effects on two key parameters: tidal deformability and fundamental oscillation frequency.

  19. Focused Study of Thermonuclear Bursts on Neutron Stars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chenevez, Jérôme

    2009-05-01

    X-ray bursters form a class of Low Mass X-Ray Binaries where accreted material from a donor star undergoes rapid thermonuclear burning in the surface layers of a neutron star. The flux released can temporarily exceed the Eddington limit and drive the photosphere to large radii. Such photospheric radius expansion bursts likely eject nuclear burning ashes into the interstellar medium, and may make possible the detection of photoionization edges. Indeed, theoretical models predict that absorption edges from 58Fe at 9.2 keV, 60Zn and 62Zn at 12.2 keV should be detectable by the future missions Simbol-X and NuSTAR. A positive detection would thus probe the nuclear burning as well as the gravitational redshift from the neutron star. Moreover, likely observations of atomic X-ray spectral components reflected from the inner accretion disk have been reported. The high spectral resolution capabilities of the focusing X-ray telescopes may therefore make possible to differentiate between the potential interpretations of the X-ray bursts spectral features.

  20. Modified TOV in gravity’s rainbow: properties of neutron stars and dynamical stability conditions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hendi, S.H. [Physics Department and Biruni Observatory, College of Sciences, Shiraz University,Shiraz 71454 (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Research Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics of Maragha (RIAAM),P.O. Box 55134-441, Maragha (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Bordbar, G.H. [Physics Department and Biruni Observatory, College of Sciences, Shiraz University,Shiraz 71454 (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Center for Excellence in Astronomy and Astrophysics (CEAA-RIAAM)-Maragha,P.O. Box 55134-441, Maragha 55177-36698 (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Panah, B. Eslam [Physics Department and Biruni Observatory, College of Sciences, Shiraz University,Shiraz 71454 (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Panahiyan, S. [Physics Department and Biruni Observatory, College of Sciences, Shiraz University,Shiraz 71454 (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Physics Department, Shahid Beheshti University,Tehran 19839 (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

    2016-09-09

    In this paper, we consider a spherical symmetric metric to extract the hydrostatic equilibrium equation of stars in (3+1)-dimensional gravity’s rainbow in the presence of cosmological constant. Then, we generalize the hydrostatic equilibrium equation to d-dimensions and obtain the hydrostatic equilibrium equation for this gravity. Also, we obtain the maximum mass of neutron star using the modern equations of state of neutron star matter derived from the microscopic calculations. It is notable that, in this paper, we consider the effects of rainbow functions on the diagrams related to the mass-central mass density (M-ρ{sub c}) relation and also the mass-radius (M-R) relation of neutron star. We also study the effects of rainbow functions on the other properties of neutron star such as the Schwarzschild radius, average density, strength of gravity and gravitational redshift. Then, we apply the cosmological constant to this theory to obtain the diagrams of M-ρ{sub c} (or M-R) and other properties of these stars. Next, we investigate the dynamical stability condition for these stars in gravity’s rainbow and show that these stars have dynamical stability. We also obtain a relation between mass of neutron stars and Planck mass. In addition, we compare obtained results of this theory with the observational data.

  1. Topological currents in neutron stars: kicks, precession, toroidal fields, and magnetic helicity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Charbonneau, James; Zhitnitsky, Ariel

    2010-01-01

    The effects of anomalies in high density QCD are striking. We consider a direct application of one of these effects, namely topological currents, on the physics of neutron stars. All the elements required for topological currents are present in neutron stars: degenerate matter, large magnetic fields, and parity violating processes. These conditions lead to the creation of vector currents capable of carrying momentum and inducing magnetic fields. We estimate the size of these currents for many representative states of dense matter in the neutron star and argue that they could be responsible for the large proper motion of neutron stars (kicks), the toroidal magnetic field and finite magnetic helicity needed for stability of the poloidal field, and the resolution of the conflict between type-II superconductivity and precession. Though these observational effects appear unrelated, they likely originate from the same physics — they are all P-odd phenomena that stem from a topological current generated by parity violation

  2. Magnetic field effects on the crust structure of neutron stars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Franzon, B.; Negreiros, R.; Schramm, S.

    2017-12-01

    We study the effects of high magnetic fields on the structure and on the geometry of the crust in neutron stars. We find that the crust geometry is substantially modified by the magnetic field inside the star. We build stationary and axis-symmetric magnetized stellar models by using well-known equations of state to describe the neutron star crust, namely, the Skyrme model for the inner crust and the Baym-Pethick-Sutherland equation of state for the outer crust. We show that the magnetic field has a dual role, contributing to the crust deformation via the electromagnetic interaction (manifested in this case as the Lorentz force) and by contributing to curvature due to the energy stored in it. We also study a direct consequence of the crust deformation due to the magnetic field: the thermal relaxation time. This quantity, which is of great importance to the thermal evolution of neutron stars, is sensitive to the crust properties, and, as such, we show that it may be strongly affected by the magnetic field.

  3. Astroseismology of neutron stars from gravitational waves in the limit of perfect measurement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suvorov, A. G.

    2018-04-01

    The oscillation spectrum of a perturbed neutron star is intimately related to the physical properties of the star, such as the equation of state. Observing pulsating neutron stars therefore allows one to place constraints on these physical properties. However, it is not obvious exactly how much can be learnt from such measurements. If we observe for long enough, and precisely enough, is it possible to learn everything about the star? A classical result in the theory of spectral geometry states that one cannot uniquely `hear the shape of a drum'. More formally, it is known that an eigenfrequency spectrum may not uniquely correspond to a particular geometry; some `drums' may be indistinguishable from a normal-mode perspective. In contrast, we show that the drum result does not extend to perturbations of simple neutron stars within general relativity - in the case of axial (toroidal) perturbations of static, perfect fluid stars, a quasi-normal mode spectrum uniquely corresponds to a stellar profile. We show in this paper that it is not possible for two neutron stars, with distinct fluid profiles, to oscillate in an identical manner. This result has the information-theoretic consequence that gravitational waves completely encode the properties of any given oscillating star: unique identifications are possible in the limit of perfect measurement.

  4. CONSTRAINING THE SPIN-DOWN OF THE NEARBY ISOLATED NEUTRON STAR RX J0806.4-4123, AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE POPULATION OF NEARBY NEUTRON STARS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kaplan, D. L.; Van Kerkwijk, M. H.

    2009-01-01

    The nearby isolated neutron stars (INSs) are a group of seven relatively slowly rotating neutron stars that show thermal X-ray spectra, most with broad absorption features. They are interesting both because they may allow one to determine fundamental neutron-star properties by modeling their spectra, and because they appear to be a large fraction of the overall neutron-star population. Here, we describe a series of XMM -Newton observations of the nearby INS RX J0806.4-4123, taken as part of larger program of timing studies. From these, we limit the spin-down rate to ν-dot=(-4.3±2.3)x10 -16 Hz s -1 . This constrains the dipole magnetic field to be 13 G at 2σ, significantly less than the field of ∼10 14 G implied by simple models for the X-ray absorption found at 0.45 keV. We confirm that the spectrum is thermal and stable (to within a few percent), but find that the 0.45 keV absorption feature is broader and more complex than previously thought. Considering the population of INSs, we find that magnetic field decay from an initial field of ∼ 14 G accounts most naturally for their timing and spectral properties, both qualitatively and in the context of the models for field decay of Pons and collaborators.

  5. arXiv Gravitational-wave constraints on the neutron-star-matter Equation of State

    CERN Document Server

    Annala, Eemeli; Kurkela, Aleksi; Vuorinen, Aleksi

    2018-04-26

    The detection of gravitational waves originating from a neutron-star merger, GW170817, by the LIGO and Virgo Collaborations has recently provided new stringent limits on the tidal deformabilities of the stars involved in the collision. Combining this measurement with the existence of two-solar-mass stars, we generate a generic family of neutron-star-matter equations of state (EOSs) that interpolate between state-of-the-art theoretical results at low and high baryon density. Comparing the results to ones obtained without the tidal-deformability constraint, we witness a dramatic reduction in the family of allowed EOSs. Based on our analysis, we conclude that the maximal radius of a 1.4-solar-mass neutron star is 13.6 km, and that the smallest allowed tidal deformability of a similar-mass star is Λ(1.4  M⊙)=120.

  6. Rate of formation of neutron stars in the galaxy estimated from stellar statistics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Endal, A.S.

    1979-01-01

    Stellar statistics and stellar evolution models can be used to estimate the rate of formation of neutron stars in the Galaxy. A recent analysis by Hills suggests that the mean interval between neutron-star births is greater than 27 years. This is incompatible with estimates based on pulsar statistics. However, a closer examination of the stellar data shows that Hill's result is incorrect. A mean interval between neutron-star births as short as 4 years is consistent with (though certainly not required by) stellar evolution theory

  7. A relativistic type Ibc supernova without a detected gamma-ray burst.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soderberg, A M; Chakraborti, S; Pignata, G; Chevalier, R A; Chandra, P; Ray, A; Wieringa, M H; Copete, A; Chaplin, V; Connaughton, V; Barthelmy, S D; Bietenholz, M F; Chugai, N; Stritzinger, M D; Hamuy, M; Fransson, C; Fox, O; Levesque, E M; Grindlay, J E; Challis, P; Foley, R J; Kirshner, R P; Milne, P A; Torres, M A P

    2010-01-28

    Long duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) mark the explosive death of some massive stars and are a rare sub-class of type Ibc supernovae. They are distinguished by the production of an energetic and collimated relativistic outflow powered by a central engine (an accreting black hole or neutron star). Observationally, this outflow is manifested in the pulse of gamma-rays and a long-lived radio afterglow. Until now, central-engine-driven supernovae have been discovered exclusively through their gamma-ray emission, yet it is expected that a larger population goes undetected because of limited satellite sensitivity or beaming of the collimated emission away from our line of sight. In this framework, the recovery of undetected GRBs may be possible through radio searches for type Ibc supernovae with relativistic outflows. Here we report the discovery of luminous radio emission from the seemingly ordinary type Ibc SN 2009bb, which requires a substantial relativistic outflow powered by a central engine. A comparison with our radio survey of type Ibc supernovae reveals that the fraction harbouring central engines is low, about one per cent, measured independently from, but consistent with, the inferred rate of nearby GRBs. Independently, a second mildly relativistic supernova has been reported.

  8. A relativistic type Ibc supernova without a detected γ-ray burst

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soderberg, A. M.; Chakraborti, S.; Pignata, G.; Chevalier, R. A.; Chandra, P.; Ray, A.; Wieringa, M. H.; Copete, A.; Chaplin, V.; Connaughton, V.; Barthelmy, S. D.; Bietenholz, M. F.; Chugai, N.; Stritzinger, M. D.; Hamuy, M.; Fransson, C.; Fox, O.; Levesque, E. M.; Grindlay, J. E.; Challis, P.; Foley, R. J.; Kirshner, R. P.; Milne, P. A.; Torres, M. A. P.

    2010-01-01

    Long duration γ-ray bursts (GRBs) mark the explosive death of some massive stars and are a rare sub-class of type Ibc supernovae. They are distinguished by the production of an energetic and collimated relativistic outflow powered by a central engine (an accreting black hole or neutron star). Observationally, this outflow is manifested in the pulse of γ-rays and a long-lived radio afterglow. Until now, central-engine-driven supernovae have been discovered exclusively through their γ-ray emission, yet it is expected that a larger population goes undetected because of limited satellite sensitivity or beaming of the collimated emission away from our line of sight. In this framework, the recovery of undetected GRBs may be possible through radio searches for type Ibc supernovae with relativistic outflows. Here we report the discovery of luminous radio emission from the seemingly ordinary type Ibc SN 2009bb, which requires a substantial relativistic outflow powered by a central engine. A comparison with our radio survey of type Ibc supernovae reveals that the fraction harbouring central engines is low, about one per cent, measured independently from, but consistent with, the inferred rate of nearby GRBs. Independently, a second mildly relativistic supernova has been reported.

  9. Magnetic Fields of Neutron Stars

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Sushan Konar

    2017-09-12

    Sep 12, 2017 ... the material properties of the region where currents supporting the .... 1The evolution of magnetic field in neutron stars, in particular, the question of .... −10, 10. −9, 10. −8. M⊙/yr respec- tively. See Konar & Bhattacharya (1997) for details. Peq ≃ 1.9 ms ..... ported by a grant (SR/WOS-A/PM-1038/2014) from.

  10. A perturbative approach to neutron stars in f(T, T)-gravity

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pace, Mark; Said, Jackson Levi [University of Malta, Department of Physics, Msida (Malta); University of Malta, Institute of Space Sciences and Astronomy, Msida (Malta)

    2017-05-15

    We derive a Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff equation in neutron star systems within the modified f(T, T)-gravity class of models using a perturbative approach. In our approach f(T, T)-gravity is considered to be a static spherically symmetric space-time. In this instance the metric is built from a more fundamental vierbein which can be used to relate inertial and global coordinates. A linear function f = T(r) + T(r) + χh(T, T) + O(χ{sup 2}) is taken as the Lagrangian density for the gravitational action. Finally we impose the polytropic equation of state of neutron star upon the derived equations in order to derive the mass profile and mass-central density relations of the neutron star in f(T, T)-gravity. (orig.)

  11. Physics of Relativistic Objects in Compact Binaries: From Birth to Coalescence

    CERN Document Server

    Colpi, Monica; Gorini, Vittorio; Moschella, Ugo; Possenti, Andrea

    2009-01-01

    This book provides a comprehensive, authoritative and timely review of the astrophysical approach to the investigation of gravity theories. Particular attention is paid to strong-field tests of general relativity and alternative theories of gravity, performed using collapsed objects (neutron stars, black holes and white dwarfs) in relativistic binaries as laboratories. The book starts with an introduction which gives the background linking experimental gravity in cosmic laboratories to astrophysics and fundamental physics. Subsequent chapters cover observational and theoretical aspects of the following topics: from binaries as test-beds of gravity theories to binary pulsars as cosmic laboratories; from binary star evolution to the formation of relativistic binaries; from short gamma-ray bursts to low mass X-ray binaries; from stellar-mass black hole binaries to coalescing super-massive black holes in galaxy mergers. The book will be useful to researchers, PhD and graduate students in Astrophysics, Cosmology, ...

  12. Why neutron stars have three hairs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stein, Leo; Yagi, Kent; Pappas, George; Yunes, Nicolas; Apostolatos, Theocharis

    2015-04-01

    Neutron stars have recently been found to enjoy a certain `baldness' in their multipolar structure which is independent of the equation of state (EoS) of dense nuclear matter. This is reminiscent of the black hole no-hair relations, and in stark contrast to regular stars. Why is this? Is it because realistic EoSs are sufficiently similar, or because GR effects are especially important, or because the nuclear matter is `cold'? We explore the physics behind these and more hypotheses, and give a convincing explanation for the true origin of the three-hair relations.

  13. On neutron star/supernova remnant associations

    OpenAIRE

    Gvaramadze, V. V.

    2000-01-01

    It is pointed out that a cavity supernova (SN) explosion of a moving massive star could result in a significant offset of the neutron star (NS) birth-place from the geometrical centre of the supernova remnant (SNR). Therefore: a) the high implied transverse velocities of a number of NSs (e.g. PSR B1610-50, PSR B1757-24, SGR0525-66) could be reduced; b) the proper motion vector of a NS should not necessarily point away from the geometrical centre of the associated SNR; c) the circle of possibl...

  14. REFINED NEUTRON STAR MASS DETERMINATIONS FOR SIX ECLIPSING X-RAY PULSAR BINARIES

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rawls, Meredith L.; Orosz, Jerome A.; McClintock, Jeffrey E.; Torres, Manuel A. P.; Bailyn, Charles D.; Buxton, Michelle M.

    2011-01-01

    We present an improved method for determining the mass of neutron stars in eclipsing X-ray pulsar binaries and apply the method to six systems, namely, Vela X-1, 4U 1538-52, SMC X-1, LMC X-4, Cen X-3, and Her X-1. In previous studies to determine neutron star mass, the X-ray eclipse duration has been approximated analytically by assuming that the companion star is spherical with an effective Roche lobe radius. We use a numerical code based on Roche geometry with various optimizers to analyze the published data for these systems, which we supplement with new spectroscopic and photometric data for 4U 1538-52. This allows us to model the eclipse duration more accurately and thus calculate an improved value for the neutron star mass. The derived neutron star mass also depends on the assumed Roche lobe filling factor β of the companion star, where β = 1 indicates a completely filled Roche lobe. In previous work a range of β between 0.9 and 1.0 was usually adopted. We use optical ellipsoidal light-curve data to constrain β. We find neutron star masses of 1.77 ± 0.08 M sun for Vela X-1, 0.87 ± 0.07 M sun for 4U 1538-52 (eccentric orbit), 1.00 ± 0.10 M sun for 4U 1538-52 (circular orbit), 1.04 ± 0.09 M sun for SMC X-1, 1.29 ± 0.05 M sun for LMC X-4, 1.49 ± 0.08 M sun for Cen X-3, and 1.07 ± 0.36 M sun for Her X-1. We discuss the limits of the approximations that were used to derive the earlier mass determinations, and we comment on the implications our new masses have for observationally refining the upper and lower bounds of the neutron star mass distribution.

  15. Demonstrating the Likely Neutron Star Nature of Five M31 Globular Cluster Sources with Swift-NuSTAR Spectroscopy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maccarone, Thomas J.; Yukita, Mihoko; Hornschemeier, Ann; Lehmer, Bret D.; Antoniou, Vallia; Ptak, Andrew; Wik, Daniel R.; Zezas, Andreas; Boyd, Padi; Kennea, Jamie; hide

    2016-01-01

    We present the results of a joint Swift-NuSTAR spectroscopy campaign on M31. We focus on the five brightest globular cluster X-ray sources in our fields. Two of these had previously been argued to be black hole candidates on the basis of apparent hard-state spectra at luminosities above those for which neutron stars are in hard states. We show that these two sources are likely to be Z-sources (i.e. low magnetic field neutron stars accreting near their Eddington limits), or perhaps bright atoll sources (low magnetic field neutron stars which are just a bit fainter than this level) on the basis of simultaneous Swift and NuSTAR spectra which cover a broader range of energies. These new observations reveal spectral curvature above 6-8 keV that would be hard to detect without the broader energy coverage the NuSTAR data provide relative to Chandra and XMM-Newton. We show that the other three sources are also likely to be bright neutron star X-ray binaries, rather than black hole X-ray binaries. We discuss why it should already have been realized that it was unlikely that these objects were black holes on the basis of their being persistent sources, and we re-examine past work which suggested that tidal capture products would be persistently bright X-ray emitters. We discuss how this problem is likely due to neglecting disc winds in older work that predict which systems will be persistent and which will be transient.

  16. A relativistic extended Fermi-Thomas-like equation for a self-gravitating system of fermions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Merloni, A.; Ruffini, R.; Torroni, V.

    1998-01-01

    The authors extend previous results of a Fermi-Thomas model, describing self-gravitating fermions in their ground state, to a relativistic gravitational theory in Minkowski space. In such a theory the source term of the gravitational potential depends both on the pressure and the density of the fluid. It is shown that, in correspondence of this relativistic treatment, still a Fermi-Thomas-like equation can be derived for the self-gravitating system, though the non-linearities are much more complex. No Fermi-Thomas-like equation can be obtained in the General Relativistic treatment. The canonical results for neutron stars and white dwarfs are recovered and also some erroneous statements in the scientific literature are corrected

  17. Constraining neutron star matter with Quantum Chromodynamics

    CERN Document Server

    Kurkela, Aleksi; Schaffner-Bielich, Jurgen; Vuorinen, Aleksi

    2014-01-01

    In recent years, there have been several successful attempts to constrain the equation of state of neutron star matter using input from low-energy nuclear physics and observational data. We demonstrate that significant further restrictions can be placed by additionally requiring the pressure to approach that of deconfined quark matter at high densities. Remarkably, the new constraints turn out to be highly insensitive to the amount --- or even presence --- of quark matter inside the stars.

  18. Neutron-skin thickness of finite nuclei in relativistic mean-field models with chiral limits

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jiang Weizhou; Li Baoan; Chen Liewen

    2007-01-01

    We study several structure properties of finite nuclei using relativistic mean-field Lagrangians constructed according to the Brown-Rho scaling due to the chiral symmetry restoration at high densities. The models are consistent with current experimental constraints for the equations of state of symmetric matter at both normal and supranormal densities and of asymmetric matter at subsaturation densities. It is shown that these models can successfully describe the binding energies and charge radii of finite nuclei. Compared to calculations with usual relativistic mean-field models, these models give a reduced thickness of neutron skin in 208 Pb between 0.17 fm and 0.21 fm. The reduction of the predicted neutron skin thickness is found to be due to not only the softening of the symmetry energy but also the scaling property of ρ meson required by the partial restoration of chiral symmetry

  19. Relativistic stars in degenerate higher-order scalar-tensor theories after GW170817

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kobayashi, Tsutomu; Hiramatsu, Takashi

    2018-05-01

    We study relativistic stars in degenerate higher-order scalar-tensor theories that evade the constraint on the speed of gravitational waves imposed by GW170817. It is shown that the exterior metric is given by the usual Schwarzschild solution if the lower order Horndeski terms are ignored in the Lagrangian and a shift symmetry is assumed. However, this class of theories exhibits partial breaking of Vainshtein screening in the stellar interior and thus modifies the structure of a star. Employing a simple concrete model, we show that for high-density stars the mass-radius relation is altered significantly even if the parameters are chosen so that only a tiny correction is expected in the Newtonian regime. We also find that, depending on the parameters, there is a maximum central density above which solutions cease to exist.

  20. Prospects of detecting baryon and quark superfluidity from cooling neutron stars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Page; Prakash; Lattimer; Steiner

    2000-09-04

    Baryon and quark superfluidity in the cooling of neutron stars are investigated. Future observations will allow us to constrain combinations of the neutron or Lambda-hyperon pairing gaps and the star's mass. However, in a hybrid star with a mixed phase of hadrons and quarks, quark gaps larger than a few tenths of an MeV render quark matter virtually invisible for cooling. If the quark gap is smaller, quark superfluidity could be important, but its effects will be nearly impossible to distinguish from those of other baryonic constituents.

  1. The Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER): design and development

    OpenAIRE

    Gendreau, Keith C.; Arzoumanian, Zaven; Adkins, Phillip W.; Albert, Cheryl L.; Anders, John F.; Aylward, Andrew T.; Baker, Charles L.; Balsamo, Erin R.; Bamford, William A.; Benegalrao, Suyog S.; Berry, Daniel L.; Bhalwani, Shiraz; Black, J. Kevin; Blaurock, Carl; Bronke, Ginger M.

    2016-01-01

    During 2014 and 2015, NASA's Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) mission proceeded successfully through Phase C, Design and Development. An X-ray (0.2-12 keV) astrophysics payload destined for the International Space Station, NICER is manifested for launch in early 2017 on the Commercial Resupply Services SpaceX-11 flight. Its scientific objectives are to investigate the internal structure, dynamics, and energetics of neutron stars, the densest objects in the universe. During P...

  2. Probing the crust of the neutron star in EXO 0748-676

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Degenaar, N.; Miller, J. M. [Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, 500 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States); Medin, Z. [Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545 (United States); Cumming, A. [Department of Physics, McGill University, 3600 rue University, Montreal, QC H3A 2T8 (Canada); Wijnands, R. [Astronomical Institute Anton Pannekoek, University of Amsterdam, Postbus 94249, 1090 GE Amsterdam (Netherlands); Wolff, M. T. [Space Science Division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375 (United States); Cackett, E. M. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Wayne State University, 666 West Hancock Street, Detroit, MI 48201 (United States); Jonker, P. G. [SRON, Netherlands Institute for Space Research, Sorbonnelaan 2, 3584 CA, Utrecht (Netherlands); Homan, J. [MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States); Brown, E. F., E-mail: degenaar@umich.edu [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824 (United States)

    2014-08-10

    X-ray observations of quiescent X-ray binaries have the potential to provide insight into the structure and the composition of neutron stars. EXO 0748-676 had been actively accreting for over 24 yr before its outburst ceased in late 2008. Subsequent X-ray monitoring revealed a gradual decay of the quiescent thermal emission that can be attributed to cooling of the accretion-heated neutron star crust. In this work, we report on new Chandra and Swift observations that extend the quiescent monitoring to ≅5 yr post-outburst. We find that the neutron star temperature remained at ≅117 eV between 2009 and 2011, but had decreased to ≅110 eV in 2013. This suggests that the crust has not fully cooled yet, which is supported by the lower temperature (≅95 eV) measured ≅4 yr prior to the accretion phase in 1980. Comparing the data to thermal evolution simulations reveals that the apparent lack of cooling between 2009 and 2011 could possibly be a signature of convection driven by phase separation of light and heavy nuclei in the outer layers of the neutron star.

  3. Dragging of inertial frames inside the rotating neutron stars

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chakraborty, Chandrachur; Modak, Kamakshya Prasad; Bandyopadhyay, Debades, E-mail: chandrachur.chakraborty@saha.ac.in, E-mail: kamakshya.modak@saha.ac.in [Astroparticle Physics and Cosmology Division, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Kolkata 700064 (India)

    2014-07-20

    We derive the exact frame-dragging rate inside rotating neutron stars. This formula is applied to show that the frame-dragging rate monotonically decreases from the center to the surface of the neutron star along the pole. In the case of the frame-dragging rate along the equatorial distance, it decreases initially away from the center, becomes negligibly small well before the surface of the neutron star, rises again, and finally approaches to a small value at the surface. The appearance of a local maximum and minimum in this case is the result of the dependence of frame-dragging frequency on the distance and angle. Moving from the equator to the pole, it is observed that this local maximum and minimum in the frame-dragging rate along the equator disappear after crossing a critical angle. It is also noted that the positions of the local maximum and minimum of the frame-dragging rate along the equator depend on the rotation frequency and central energy density of a particular pulsar.

  4. Maser Emission from Gravitational States on Isolated Neutron Stars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tepliakov, Nikita V.; Vovk, Tatiana A.; Rukhlenko, Ivan D.; Rozhdestvensky, Yuri V.

    2018-04-01

    Despite years of research on neutron stars, the source of their radio emission is still under debate. Here we propose a new coherent mechanism of pulsar radio emission based on transitions between gravitational states of electrons confined above the pulsar atmosphere. Our mechanism assumes that the coherent radiation is generated upon the electric and magnetic dipole transitions of electrons falling onto the polar caps of the pulsar, and predicts that this radiation occurs at radio frequencies—in full agreement with the observed emission spectra. We show that while the linearly polarized electric dipole radiation propagates parallel to the neutron star surface and has a fan-shape angular spectrum, the magnetic dipole emission comes from the magnetic poles of the pulsar in the form of two narrow beams and is elliptically polarized due to the spin–orbit coupling of electrons confined by the magnetic field. By explaining the main observables of the pulsar radio emission, the proposed mechanism indicates that gravitational quantum confinement plays an essential role in the physics of neutron stars.

  5. Properties of Localized Protons in Neutron Star Matter at Finite Temperatures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Szmaglinski, A.; Kubis, S.; Wójcik, W.

    2014-02-01

    We study properties of the proton component of neutron star matter for realistic nuclear models. Vanishing of the nuclear symmetry energy implies proton-neutron separation in dense nuclear matter. Protons which form admixture tend to be localized in potential wells. Here, we extend the description of proton localization to finite temperatures. It appears that the protons are still localized at temperatures typical for hot neutron stars. That fact has important astrophysical consequences. Moreover, the temperature inclusion leads to unexpected results for the behavior of the proton localized state.

  6. Measuring neutron-star properties via gravitational waves from neutron-star mergers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bauswein, A; Janka, H-T

    2012-01-06

    We demonstrate by a large set of merger simulations for symmetric binary neutron stars (NSs) that there is a tight correlation between the frequency peak of the postmerger gravitational-wave (GW) emission and the physical properties of the nuclear equation of state (EoS), e.g., expressed by the radius of the maximum-mass Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkhoff configuration. Therefore, a single measurement of the peak frequency of the postmerger GW signal will constrain the NS EoS significantly. For optimistic merger-rate estimates a corresponding detection with Advanced LIGO is expected to happen within an operation time of roughly a year.

  7. Neutron Star/supernova Remnant Associations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gvaramadze, V. V.

    We propose a new approach for studying the neutron star/supernova remnant associations, based on the idea that the (diffuse) supernova remnants (SNRs) can be products of an off-centred supernova (SN) explosion in a preexisting bubble created by the wind of a moving massive star. A cavity SN explosion of a moving star results in a considerable offset of the neutron star (NS) birth-place from the geometrical centre of the SNR. Therefore: a) the high transverse velocities inferred for a number of NSs (e.g. PSR B 1610-50, PSR B 1757-24, SGR 0525-66) through their association with SNRs can be reduced; b) the proper motion vector of a NS should not necessarily point away from the geometrical centre of the associated SNR. Taking into account of these two facts allow us to enlarge the circle of possible NS/SNR associations, and could significantly affect the results of previous studies of NS/SNR associations. The possibilities of our approach are illustrated with the example of the association between PSR B 1706-44 and SNR G 343.1-2.3. We show that this association could be real if both objects are the remnants of a SN exploded within a mushroom-like cavity (created by the SN progenitor wind breaking out of the parent molecular cloud and expanding into an intercloud medium of a much less density). We also show that the SN explosion sites in some middle-aged (shell-like) SNRs could be marked by (compact) nebulae of thermal X-ray emission. The possible detection of such nebulae within middle-aged SNRs could be used for the re-estimation of implied transverse velocities of known NSs or for the search of new stellar remnants possibly associated with these SNRs.

  8. Spin-down of neutron stars by neutrino emission

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dvornikov, Maxim; Dib, Claudio

    2010-01-01

    We study the spin-down of a neutron star during its early stages due to the neutrino emission. The mechanism we consider is the subsequent collisions of the produced neutrinos with the outer shells of the star. We find that this mechanism can indeed slow down the star rotation but only in the first tens of seconds of the core formation, which is when the appropriate conditions of flux and collision rate are met. We find that this mechanism can extract less than 1% of the star angular momentum, a result which is much less than previously estimated by other authors.

  9. Spherically symmetric relativistic model for spiral galaxies and dense stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hojman, R.; Rodrigues, L.M.C.; Sasse, F.D.

    1990-01-01

    The behaviour of the pressure and the density as well as the gravitational field of a dense star are studied in some detail. For such a purpose and to take into account relativistic effects, we find a family of exact solutions of the Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkov equation, which contains as a particular case solutions corresponding to a γ-law equation of state. The mentioned family can also be used to model the (luminous or dark) matter content of spiral galaxies, as it fits the observed data for their orbital velocities profiles. (author)

  10. The gravitational wave spectrum of non-axisymmetric, freely precessing neutron stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Broeck, Chris van den

    2005-01-01

    Evidence for free precession has been observed in the radio signature of several pulsars. Freely precessing pulsars radiate gravitationally at frequencies near the rotation rate and twice the rotation rate, which for rotation frequencies greater than ∼10 Hz is in the LIGO band. In older work, the gravitational wave spectrum of a precessing neutron star has been evaluated to first order in a small precession angle. Here, we calculate the contributions to second order in the wobble angle, and we find that a new spectral line emerges. We show that for reasonable wobble angles, the second-order line may well be observable with the proposed advanced LIGO detectors for precessing neutron stars as far away as the galactic centre. Observation of the full second-order spectrum permits a direct measurement of the star's wobble angle, oblateness and deviation from axisymmetry, with the potential to significantly increase our understanding of neutron star structure

  11. Accretion discs around neutron stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pringle, J.E.

    1982-01-01

    If the central object in the disc is a neutron star, then we do not need the disc itself to produce the X-rays. In other words, the disc structure itself is not important as long as it plays the role of depositing matter on the neutron star at a sufficient rate to produce the X-ray flux. Similarly, in the outer disc regions, the main disc luminosity comes from absorption and reradiation of X-ray photons and not from the intrinsic, viscously-produced, local energy production rate. These two points indicate why in the compact binary X-ray sources confrontation between disc theory and observations is not generally practicable. For this reason I will divide my talk into two parts: one on observational discs in which I discuss what observational evidence there is for discs in the compact X-ray sources and what the evidence can tell the theorist about disc behaviour, and the other on theoretical discs where I consider in what ways theoretical arguments can put limits or cast doubt on some of the empirical models put forward to explain the observations. (orig.)

  12. Relativistic equations of state at finite temperature

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Santos, A.M.S.; Menezes, D.P.

    2004-01-01

    In this work we study the effects of temperature on the equations of state obtained within a relativistic model with and without β equilibrium, over a wide range of densities. We integrate the TOV equations. We also compare the results of the equation of state, effective mass and strangeness fraction from the TM1, NL3 and GL sets of parameters, as well as investigating the importance of antiparticles in the treatment. The have checked that TM1 and NL3 are not appropriate for the description of neutron and protoneutron stars. (author)

  13. Relativistic simulations of compact object mergers for nucleonic matter and strange quark matter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bauswein, Andreas Ottmar

    2010-01-01

    Under the assumption that the energy of the ground state of 3-flavor quark matter is lower than the one of nucleonic matter, the compact stellar remnants of supernova explosions are composed of this quark matter. Because of the appearance of strange quarks, such objects are called strange stars. Considering their observational features, strange stars are very similar to neutron stars made of nucleonic matter, and therefore observations cannot exclude the existence of strange stars. This thesis introduces a new method for simulating mergers of compact stars and black holes within a general relativistic framework. The main goal of the present work is the investigation of the question, whether the coalescence of two strange stars in a binary system yields observational signatures that allow one to distinguish them from colliding neutron stars. In this context the gravitational-wave signals are analyzed. It is found that in general the characteristic frequencies in the gravitational-wave spectra are higher for strange stars. Moreover, the amount of matter that becomes gravitationally unbound during the merging is determined. The detection of ejecta of strange star mergers as potential component of cosmic ray flux could serve as a proof of the existence of strange quark matter. (orig.)

  14. Relativistic simulations of compact object mergers for nucleonic matter and strange quark matter

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bauswein, Andreas Ottmar

    2010-01-29

    Under the assumption that the energy of the ground state of 3-flavor quark matter is lower than the one of nucleonic matter, the compact stellar remnants of supernova explosions are composed of this quark matter. Because of the appearance of strange quarks, such objects are called strange stars. Considering their observational features, strange stars are very similar to neutron stars made of nucleonic matter, and therefore observations cannot exclude the existence of strange stars. This thesis introduces a new method for simulating mergers of compact stars and black holes within a general relativistic framework. The main goal of the present work is the investigation of the question, whether the coalescence of two strange stars in a binary system yields observational signatures that allow one to distinguish them from colliding neutron stars. In this context the gravitational-wave signals are analyzed. It is found that in general the characteristic frequencies in the gravitational-wave spectra are higher for strange stars. Moreover, the amount of matter that becomes gravitationally unbound during the merging is determined. The detection of ejecta of strange star mergers as potential component of cosmic ray flux could serve as a proof of the existence of strange quark matter. (orig.)

  15. A Hot Water Bottle for Aging Neutron Stars

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Alford, Mark; Jotwani, Pooja; Kouvaris, Christoforos

    2004-01-01

    The gapless color-flavor locked (gCFL) phase is the second-densest phase of matter in the QCD phase diagram, making it a plausible constituent of the core of neutron stars. We show that even a relatively small region of gCFL matter in a star will dominate both the heat capacity C_V and the heat...... loss by neutrino emission L_\

  16. Supernova remnant S 147 and its associated neutron star(s)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gvaramadze, V. V.

    2006-07-01

    The supernova remnant S 147 harbors the pulsar PSR J 0538+2817 whose characteristic age is more than an order of magnitude greater than the kinematic age of the system (inferred from the angular offset of the pulsar from the geometric center of the supernova remnant and the pulsar proper motion). To reconcile this discrepancy we propose that PSR J 0538+2817 could be the stellar remnant of the first supernova explosion in a massive binary system and therefore could be as old as its characteristic age. Our proposal implies that S 147 is the diffuse remnant of the second supernova explosion (that disrupted the binary system) and that a much younger second neutron star (not necessarily manifesting itself as a radio pulsar) should be associated with S 147. We use the existing observational data on the system to suggest that the progenitor of the supernova that formed S 147 was a Wolf-Rayet star (so that the supernova explosion occurred within a wind bubble surrounded by a massive shell) and to constrain the parameters of the binary system. We also restrict the magnitude and direction of the kick velocity received by the young neutron star at birth and find that the kick vector should not strongly deviate from the orbital plane of the binary system.

  17. Low-mass neutron stars: universal relations, the nuclear symmetry energy and gravitational radiation

    Science.gov (United States)

    O. Silva, Hector; Berti, Emanuele; Sotani, Hajime

    2016-03-01

    Compact objects such as neutron stars are ideal astrophysical laboratories to test our understanding of the fundamental interactions in the regime of supranuclear densities, unachievable by terrestrial experiments. Despite recent progress, the description of matter (i.e., the equation of state) at such densities is still debatable. This translates into uncertainties in the bulk properties of neutron stars, masses and radii for instance. Here we will consider low-mass neutron stars. Such stars are expected to carry important information on nuclear matter near the nuclear saturation point. It has recently been shown that the masses and surface redshifts of low-mass neutron stars smoothly depend on simple functions of the central density and of a characteristic parameter η associated with the choice of equation of state. Here we extend these results to slowly-rotating and tidally deformed stars and obtain empirical relations for various quantities, such as the moment of inertia, quadrupole moment and ellipticity, tidal and rotational Love numbers, and rotational apsidal constants. We discuss how these relations might be used to constrain the equation of state by future observations in the electromagnetic and gravitational-wave spectra.

  18. The role of neutron star mergers in the chemical evolution of the Galactic halo

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cescutti, G.; Romano, D.; Matteucci, F.; Chiappini, C.; Hirschi, R.

    2015-05-01

    Context. The dominant astrophysical production site of the r-process elements has not yet been unambiguously identified. The suggested main r-process sites are core-collapse supernovae and merging neutron stars. Aims: We explore the problem of the production site of Eu. We also use the information present in the observed spread in the Eu abundances in the early Galaxy, and not only its average trend. Moreover, we extend our investigations to other heavy elements (Ba, Sr, Rb, Zr) to provide additional constraints on our results. Methods: We adopt a stochastic chemical evolution model that takes inhomogeneous mixing into account. The adopted yields of Eu from merging neutron stars and from core-collapse supernovae are those that are able to explain the average [Eu/Fe]-[Fe/H] trend observed for solar neighbourhood stars, the solar abundance of Eu, and the present-day abundance gradient of Eu along the Galactic disc in the framework of a well-tested homogeneous model for the chemical evolution of the Milky Way. Rb, Sr, Zr, and Ba are produced by both the s- and r-processes. The r-process yields were obtained by scaling the Eu yields described above according to the abundance ratios observed in r-process rich stars. The s-process contribution by spinstars is the same as in our previous papers. Results: Neutron star binaries that merge in less than 10 Myr or neutron star mergers combined with a source of r-process generated by massive stars can explain the spread of [Eu/Fe] in the Galactic halo. The combination of r-process production by neutron star mergers and s-process production by spinstars is able to reproduce the available observational data for Sr, Zr, and Ba. We also show the first predictions for Rb in the Galactic halo. Conclusions: We confirm previous results that either neutron star mergers on a very short timescale or both neutron star mergers and at least a fraction of Type II supernovae have contributed to the synthesis of Eu in the Galaxy. The r

  19. Neutron Star Interiors and Topology Change

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Peter K. F. Kuhfittig

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Quark matter is believed to exist in the center of neutron stars. A combined model consisting of quark matter and ordinary matter is used to show that the extreme conditions existing in the center could result in a topology change, that is, in the formation of wormholes.

  20. Small radii of neutron stars as an indication of novel in-medium effects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jiang, Wei-Zhou; Li, Bao-An; Fattoyev, F.J.

    2015-01-01

    At present, neutron star radii from both observations and model predictions remain very uncertain. Whereas different models can predict a wide range of neutron star radii, it is not possible for most models to predict radii that are smaller than about 10 km, thus if such small radii are established in the future they will be very difficult to reconcile with model estimates. By invoking a new term in the equation of state that enhances the energy density, but leaves the pressure unchanged we simulate the current uncertainty in the neutron star radii. This new term can be possibly due to the exchange of the weakly interacting light U-boson with appropriate in-medium parameters, which does not compromise the success of the conventional nuclear models. The validity of this new scheme will be tested eventually by more precise measurements of neutron star radii. (orig.)

  1. Gravitational waves from rotating proto-neutron stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ferrari, V; Gualtieri, L; Pons, J A; Stavridis, A

    2004-01-01

    We study the effects of rotation on the quasi-normal modes (QNMs) of a newly born proto-neutron star (PNS) at different evolutionary stages, until it becomes a cold neutron star (NS). We use the Cowling approximation, neglecting spacetime perturbations, and consider different models of evolving PNS. The frequencies of the modes of a PNS are considerably lower than those of a cold NS, and are further lowered by rotation; consequently, if QNMs were excited in a sufficiently energetic process, they would radiate waves that could be more easily detectable by resonant-mass and interferometric detectors than those emitted by a cold NS. We find that for high rotation rates, some of the g-modes become unstable via the CFS instability; however, this instability is likely to be suppressed by competing mechanisms before emitting a significant amount of gravitational waves

  2. Neutron Stars and Black Holes New clues from Chandra and XMM-Newton

    CERN Multimedia

    CERN. Geneva. Audiovisual Unit

    2002-01-01

    Neutron stars and black holes, the most compact astrophysical objects, have become observable in many different ways during the last few decades. We will first review the phenomenology and properties of neutron stars and black holes (stellar and supermassive) as derived from multiwavelength observatories. Recently much progress has been made by means of the new powerful X-ray observatories Chandra and XMM-Newton which provide a substantial increase in sensitivity as well as spectral and angular resolution compared with previous satellites like ROSAT and ASCA. We shall discuss in more detail two recent topics: (1) The attempts to use X-ray spectroscopy for measuring the radii of neutron stars which depend on the equation of state at supranuclear densities. Have quark stars been detected? (2) The diagnostics of the strong gravity regions around supermassive black holes using X-ray spectroscopy.

  3. Asymptotic giant branch stars as producers of carbon and of neutron-rich isotopes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Iben, I. Jr.

    1984-01-01

    Carbon stars are thought to be in the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) phase of evolution, alternately burning hydrogen and helium in shells above an electron-degenerate carbon-oxygen (CO) core. The excess of carbon relative to oxygen at the surfaces of these stars is thought to be due to convective dredge-up which occurs following a thermal pulse. During a thermal pulse, carbon and neutron-rich isotopes are made in a convective helium-burning zone. In model stars of large CO core mass, the source of neutrons for producing the neutron-rich isotopes is the 22 Ne(α,n) 25 Mg reaction and the isotopes are produced in the solar system s-process distribution. In models of small core mass, the 13 C(α,n) 16 reaction is thought to be responsible for the release of neutrons, and the resultant distribution of neutron-rich isotopes is expected to vary considerably from one star to the next, with the distribution in isolated instances possibly resembling the solar system distribution of r-process isotopes

  4. Gamma-burst emission from neutron-star accretion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Colgate, S. A.; Petschek, A. G.; Sarracino, R.

    1983-01-01

    A model for emission of the hard photons of gamma bursts is presented. The model assumes accretion at nearly the Eddington limited rate onto a neutron star without a magnetic field. Initially soft photons are heated as they are compressed between the accreting matter and the star. A large electric field due to relatively small charge separation is required to drag electrons into the star with the nuclei against the flux of photons leaking out through the accreting matter. The photon number is not increased substantially by Bremsstrahlung or any other process. It is suggested that instability in an accretion disc might provide the infalling matter required.

  5. System for detecting neutrons in the harsh radiation environment of a relativistic electron beam

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kruse, L.W.

    1978-06-01

    Newly developed detectors and procedures allow measurement of neutron yield and energy in the harsh radiation environment of a relativistic electron beam source. A new photomultiplier tube design and special gating methods provide the basis for novel time-of-flight and total-yield detectors. The technique of activation analysis is expanded to provide a neutron energy spectrometer. There is a demonstrated potential in the use of the integrated system as a valuable diagnostic tool to study particle-beam fusion, intense ion-beam interactions, and pulsed neutron sources for simulating weapons effects. A physical lower limit of 10 8 neutrons into 4π is established for accurate and meaningful measurements in the REB environment

  6. TESTING RELATIVISTIC REFLECTION AND RESOLVING OUTFLOWS IN PG 1211+143 WITH XMM-NEWTON AND NuSTAR

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lobban, A. P.; Pounds, K.; Vaughan, S. [University of Leicester, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH (United Kingdom); Reeves, J. N., E-mail: al394@le.ac.uk [Astrophysics Group, Keele University, Staffordshire, ST5 5BG (United Kingdom)

    2016-11-10

    We analyze the broad-band X-ray spectrum (0.3–50 keV) of the luminous Seyfert 1/quasar PG 1211+143—the archetypal source for high-velocity X-ray outflows—using near-simultaneous XMM-Newton and NuSTAR observations. We compare pure relativistic reflection models with a model including the strong imprint of photoionized emission and absorption from a high-velocity wind, finding a spectral fit that extrapolates well over the higher photon energies covered by NuSTAR . Inclusion of the high signal-to-noise ratio XMM-Newton spectrum provides much tighter constraints on the model parameters, with a much harder photon index/lower reflection fraction compared to that from the NuSTAR data alone. We show that pure relativistic reflection models are not able to account for the spectral complexity of PG 1211+143 and that wind absorption models are strongly required to match the data in both the soft X-ray and Fe K spectral regions. In confirming the significance of previously reported ionized absorption features, the new analysis provides a further demonstration of the power of combining the high throughput and resolution of long-look XMM-Newton observations with the unprecedented spectral coverage of NuSTAR .

  7. Magnetic Hydrogen Atmosphere Models and the Neutron Star RX J1856.5-3754

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ho, Wynn C.G.; /MIT, MKI /KIPAC, Menlo Park; Kaplan, David L.; /MIT, MKI; Chang, Philip; /UC, Berkeley, Astron. Dept. /UC, Santa Barbara; van Adelsberg, Matthew; /Cornell; Potekhin, Alexander Y.; /Cornell U., Astron. Dept. /Ioffe Phys. Tech. Inst.

    2006-12-08

    RX J1856.5-3754 is one of the brightest nearby isolated neutron stars, and considerable observational resources have been devoted to it. However, current models are unable to satisfactorily explain the data. We show that our latest models of a thin, magnetic, partially ionized hydrogen atmosphere on top of a condensed surface can fit the entire spectrum, from X-rays to optical, of RX J1856.5-3754, within the uncertainties. In our simplest model, the best-fit parameters are an interstellar column density N{sub H} {approx} 1 x 10{sup 20} cm{sup -2} and an emitting area with R{sup {infinity}} {approx} 17 km (assuming a distance to RX J1856.5-3754 of 140 pc), temperature T{sup {infinity}} {approx} 4.3 x 10{sup 5} K, gravitational redshift z{sub g} {approx} 0.22, atmospheric hydrogen column y{sub H} {approx} 1 g cm{sup -2}, and magnetic field B {approx} (3-4) x 10{sup 12} G; the values for the temperature and magnetic field indicate an effective average over the surface. We also calculate a more realistic model, which accounts for magnetic field and temperature variations over the neutron star surface as well as general relativistic effects, to determine pulsations; we find there exist viewing geometries that produce pulsations near the currently observed limits. The origin of the thin atmospheres required to fit the data is an important question, and we briefly discuss mechanisms for producing these atmospheres. Our model thus represents the most self-consistent picture to date for explaining all the observations of RX J1856.5-3754.

  8. Relativistic theory of tidal Love numbers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Binnington, Taylor; Poisson, Eric

    2009-01-01

    In Newtonian gravitational theory, a tidal Love number relates the mass multipole moment created by tidal forces on a spherical body to the applied tidal field. The Love number is dimensionless, and it encodes information about the body's internal structure. We present a relativistic theory of Love numbers, which applies to compact bodies with strong internal gravities; the theory extends and completes a recent work by Flanagan and Hinderer, which revealed that the tidal Love number of a neutron star can be measured by Earth-based gravitational-wave detectors. We consider a spherical body deformed by an external tidal field, and provide precise and meaningful definitions for electric-type and magnetic-type Love numbers; and these are computed for polytropic equations of state. The theory applies to black holes as well, and we find that the relativistic Love numbers of a nonrotating black hole are all zero.

  9. Flux-Vortex Pinning and Neutron Star Evolution

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    M. Ali Alpar

    2017-09-12

    Sep 12, 2017 ... M. ALI ALPAR. Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Sabancı University, 34956, Istanbul, Turkey. E-mail: ... netic field of the neutron star were B ∼ 109 G. At the ..... across pinning energy barriers by thermal activation.

  10. Further stable neutron star models from f(R) gravity

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Astashenok, Artyom V. [I. Kant Baltic Federal University, Institute of Physics and Technology, Nevskogo st. 14, Kaliningrad, 236041 (Russian Federation); Capozziello, Salvatore [Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Napoli ' ' Federico II' ' , Via Cinthia, 9, Napoli, I–80126 (Italy); Odintsov, Sergei D., E-mail: artyom.art@gmail.com, E-mail: capozziello@na.infn.it, E-mail: odintsov@ieec.uab.es [Instituciò Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Barcelona (Spain)

    2013-12-01

    Neutron star models in perturbative f(R) gravity are considered with realistic equations of state. In particular, we consider the FPS, SLy and other equations of state and a case of piecewise equation of state for stars with quark cores. The mass-radius relations for f(R) = R+R(e{sup −R/R{sub 0}}−1) model and for R{sup 2} models with logarithmic and cubic corrections are obtained. In the case of R{sup 2} gravity with cubic corrections, we obtain that at high central densities (ρ > 10ρ{sub ns}, where ρ{sub ns} = 2.7 × 10{sup 14} g/cm{sup 3} is the nuclear saturation density), stable star configurations exist. The minimal radius of such stars is close to 9 km with maximal mass ∼ 1.9M{sub ⊙} (SLy equation). A similar situation takes place for AP4 and BSK20 EoS. Such an effect can give rise to more compact stars than in General Relativity. If observationally identified, such objects could constitute a formidable signature for modified gravity at astrophysical level. Another interesting result can be achieved in modified gravity with only a cubic correction. For some EoS, the upper limit of neutron star mass increases and therefore these EoS can describe realistic star configurations (although, in General Relativity, these EoS are excluded by observational constraints)

  11. Further stable neutron star models from f(R) gravity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Astashenok, Artyom V.; Capozziello, Salvatore; Odintsov, Sergei D.

    2013-01-01

    Neutron star models in perturbative f(R) gravity are considered with realistic equations of state. In particular, we consider the FPS, SLy and other equations of state and a case of piecewise equation of state for stars with quark cores. The mass-radius relations for f(R) = R+R(e −R/R 0 −1) model and for R 2 models with logarithmic and cubic corrections are obtained. In the case of R 2 gravity with cubic corrections, we obtain that at high central densities (ρ > 10ρ ns , where ρ ns = 2.7 × 10 14 g/cm 3 is the nuclear saturation density), stable star configurations exist. The minimal radius of such stars is close to 9 km with maximal mass ∼ 1.9M ⊙ (SLy equation). A similar situation takes place for AP4 and BSK20 EoS. Such an effect can give rise to more compact stars than in General Relativity. If observationally identified, such objects could constitute a formidable signature for modified gravity at astrophysical level. Another interesting result can be achieved in modified gravity with only a cubic correction. For some EoS, the upper limit of neutron star mass increases and therefore these EoS can describe realistic star configurations (although, in General Relativity, these EoS are excluded by observational constraints)

  12. Neutron Star Mergers and the R process

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joniak, Ronald; Ugalde, Claudio

    2017-09-01

    About half of the elements of the periodic table that are present today in the Solar System were synthesized before the formation of the Sun via a rapid neutron capture process (r process). However, the astrophysical site of the r process is a longstanding problem that has captivated both experimental and theoretical astrophysicists. Up to date, two possible scenarios for the site of the r process have been suggested: the first involves the high entropy wind of core collapse supernovae, and the second corresponds to the merger of two compact stellar objects such as neutron stars. We will study the robustness of the nucleosynthesis abundance pattern between the second and third r process peaks as produced by neutron star mergers with r process-like neutron exposures. First, we will vary parameters to obtain an understanding of the astrophysical mechanisms that create the r process. Next, we will create a program to obtain the best possible parameters based on a chi-squared test. Once we have the best fits, we will test the effect of fission in the overall isotope abundance pattern distribution. Later on, we will vary the ratio of masses of the two fission fragments and study its effect on elemental abundances. This research was supported by the UIC College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Undergraduate Research Initiative (LASURI).

  13. The Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope, Exploding Stars, Neutron Stars, and Black Holes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thompson, David J.

    2010-01-01

    Since August, 2008, the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has been scanning the sky, producing a full-sky image every three hours. These cosmic gamma-rays come from extreme astrophysical phenomena, many related to exploding stars (supernovae) or what these explosions leave behind: supernova remnants, neutron stars, and black holes. This talk uses sample Fermi results, plus simple demonstrations, to illustrate the exotic properties of these endpoints of stellar evolution.

  14. Binary neutron star mergers: Dependence on the nuclear equation of state

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hotokezaka, Kenta; Kyutoku, Koutarou; Okawa, Hirotada; Shibata, Masaru; Kiuchi, Kenta

    2011-01-01

    We perform a numerical-relativity simulation for the merger of binary neutron stars with 6 nuclear-theory-based equations of states (EOSs) described by piecewise polytropes. Our purpose is to explore the dependence of the dynamical behavior of the binary neutron star merger and resulting gravitational waveforms on the EOS of the supernuclear-density matter. The numerical results show that the merger process and the first outcome are classified into three types: (i) a black hole is promptly formed, (ii) a short-lived hypermassive neutron star (HMNS) is formed, (iii) a long-lived HMNS is formed. The type of the merger depends strongly on the EOS and on the total mass of the binaries. For the EOS with which the maximum mass is larger than 2M · , the lifetime of the HMNS is longer than 10 ms for a total mass m 0 =2.7M · . A recent radio observation suggests that the maximum mass of spherical neutron stars is M max ≥1.97±0.04M · in one σ level. This fact and our results support the possible existence of a HMNS soon after the onset of the merger for a typical binary neutron star with m 0 =2.7M · . We also show that the torus mass surrounding the remnant black hole is correlated with the type of the merger process; the torus mass could be large, ≥0.1M · , in the case that a long-lived HMNS is formed. We also show that gravitational waves carry information of the merger process, the remnant, and the torus mass surrounding a black hole.

  15. Evolution of a blue supergiant with a neutron star companion immersed in its envelope

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Delgado, A.J.

    1980-01-01

    The evolution of a binary system consisting of 1 Msub(sun) neutron star and a 25 Msub(sun) blue supergiant through a phase of common envelope is investigated. We include the effects of an additional energy source on the supergiant's envelope, due to the presence of the neutron star, and variable mass loss from the system, taken as proportional to the total luminosity. The results indicate that, independently of the initial period, the system loses its whole envelope as a consequence of the common envelope phase, the final product of this being a detached system, consisting of a neutron star and a helium star. (orig.)

  16. Role of magnetic interactions in neutron stars

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adhya Souvik Priyam

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available In this work, we present a calculation of the non-Fermi liquid correction to the specific heat of magnetized degenerate quark matter present at the core of the neutron star. The role of non-Fermi liquid corrections to the neutrino emissivity has been calculated beyond leading order. We extend our result to the evaluation of the pulsar kick velocity and cooling of the star due to such anomalous corrections and present a comparison with the simple Fermi liquid case.

  17. Supernova and r-process simulations with relativistic EOS table

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sumiyoshi, Kohsuke

    2000-01-01

    We study the neutrino-driven wind from the proto-neutron star by the general relativistic hydrodynamical simulations. We examine the properties of the neutrino-driven wind to explore the possibility of the r-process nucleosynthesis. The numerical simulations with the neutrino heating and cooling processes are performed with the assumption of the constant neutrino luminosity by using realistic profiles of the proto-neutron star (PNS) as well as simplified models. The dependence on the mass of PNS and the neutrino luminosity is studied systematically. Comparisons with the analytic treatment in the previous studies are also done. In the cases with the realistic PNS, we found that the entropy per baryon and the expansion time scale are neither high nor short enough for the r-process within the current assumptions. On the other hand, we found that the expansion time scale obtained by the hydrodynamical simulations is systematically shorter than that in the analytic solutions due to our proper treatment of the equation of state. This fact might lead to the increase of the neutron-to-seed ratio, which is suitable for the r-process in the neutrino-driven wind. Indeed, in the case of massive and compact proto-neutron stars with high neutrino luminosities, the expansion time scale is found short enough in the hydrodynamical simulations and the r-process elements up to A ∼ 200 are produced in the r-process network calculation. (author)

  18. Gravity Defied From Potato Asteroids to Magnetised Neutron Stars

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Gravity Defied. From Potato Asteroids to Magnetised Neutron Stars. 2. ... objects that just missed being stars in this particular install- ment. 1. .... However, the total energy that can be made .... trial metals in which the electrons form a degenerate Fermi gas. ... In deuterium fusion, a deuterium nucleus and a proton combine to.

  19. Constructing a neutron star from the lattice in G{sub 2}-QCD

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hajizadeh, Ouraman; Maas, Axel [University of Graz, Institute of Physics, NAWI Graz (Austria)

    2017-10-15

    The inner structure of neutron stars is still an open question. One obstacle is the infamous sign problem of lattice QCD, which bars access to the high-density equation of state. A possibility to make progress and understand the qualitative impact of gauge interactions on the neutron star structure is to study a modified version of QCD without the sign problem. In the modification studied here the gauge group of QCD is replaced by the exceptional Lie group G{sub 2}, which keeps neutrons in the spectrum. Using an equation of state from lattice calculations only we determine the mass-radius-relation for a neutron star using the Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff equation. This allows us to understand the challenges and approximations currently necessary to use lattice data for this purpose. We discuss in detail the particular uncertainties and systematic problems of this approach. (orig.)

  20. Gravitomagnetic effect in magnetized neutron stars

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chatterjee, Debarati [LPC/ENSICAEN, 6 Boulevard Maréchal Juin, Caen, 14050 France (France); Chakraborty, Chandrachur [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Homi Bhabha Road, Colaba, Mumbai, 400005 India (India); Bandyopadhyay, Debades, E-mail: dchatterjee@lpccaen.in2p3.fr, E-mail: chandrachur.chakraborty@tifr.res.in, E-mail: debades.bandyopadhyay@saha.ac.in [Astroparticle Physics and Cosmology Division, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, HBNI, 1/AF Bidhannagar, Kolkata, 700064 India (India)

    2017-01-01

    Rotating bodies in General Relativity produce frame dragging, also known as the gravitomagnetic effect in analogy with classical electromagnetism. In this work, we study the effect of magnetic field on the gravitomagnetic effect in neutron stars with poloidal geometry, which is produced as a result of its rotation. We show that the magnetic field has a non-negligible impact on frame dragging. The maximum effect of the magnetic field appears along the polar direction, where the frame-dragging frequency decreases with increase in magnetic field, and along the equatorial direction, where its magnitude increases. For intermediate angles, the effect of the magnetic field decreases, and goes through a minimum for a particular angular value at which magnetic field has no effect on gravitomagnetism. Beyond that particular angle gravitomagnetic effect increases with increasing magnetic field. We try to identify this 'null region' for the case of magnetized neutron stars, both inside and outside, as a function of the magnetic field, and suggest a thought experiment to find the null region of a particular pulsar using the frame dragging effect.

  1. Detecting gravitational waves from accreting neutron stars

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Watts, A.L.; Krishnan, B.

    2009-01-01

    The gravitational waves emitted by neutron stars carry unique information about their structure and composition. Direct detection of these gravitational waves, however, is a formidable technical challenge. In a recent study we quantified the hurdles facing searches for gravitational waves from the

  2. Breakdown of I-Love-Q Universality in Rapidly Rotating Relativistic Stars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doneva, Daniela D.; Yazadjiev, Stoytcho S.; Stergioulas, Nikolaos; Kokkotas, Kostas D.

    2014-01-01

    It was shown recently that normalized relations between the moment of inertia (I), the quadrupole moment (Q), and the tidal deformability (Love number) exist and for slowly rotating neutron stars they are almost independent of the equation of state (EOS). We extend the computation of the I-Q relation to models rotating up to the mass-shedding limit and show that the universality of the relations is lost. With increasing rotation rate, the normalized I-Q relation departs significantly from its slow-rotation limit, deviating up to 40% for neutron stars and up to 75% for strange stars. The deviation is also EOS dependent and for a broad set of hadronic and strange matter EOSs the spread due to rotation is comparable to the spread due to the EOS, if one considers sequences with fixed rotational frequency. Still, for a restricted sample of modern realistic EOSs one can parameterize the deviations from universality as a function of rotation only. The previously proposed I-Love-Q relations should thus be used with care, because they lose their universality in astrophysical situations involving compact objects rotating faster than a few hundred Hz.

  3. BREAKDOWN OF I-LOVE-Q UNIVERSALITY IN RAPIDLY ROTATING RELATIVISTIC STARS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Doneva, Daniela D.; Yazadjiev, Stoytcho S.; Kokkotas, Kostas D.; Stergioulas, Nikolaos

    2014-01-01

    It was shown recently that normalized relations between the moment of inertia (I), the quadrupole moment (Q), and the tidal deformability (Love number) exist and for slowly rotating neutron stars they are almost independent of the equation of state (EOS). We extend the computation of the I-Q relation to models rotating up to the mass-shedding limit and show that the universality of the relations is lost. With increasing rotation rate, the normalized I-Q relation departs significantly from its slow-rotation limit, deviating up to 40% for neutron stars and up to 75% for strange stars. The deviation is also EOS dependent and for a broad set of hadronic and strange matter EOSs the spread due to rotation is comparable to the spread due to the EOS, if one considers sequences with fixed rotational frequency. Still, for a restricted sample of modern realistic EOSs one can parameterize the deviations from universality as a function of rotation only. The previously proposed I-Love-Q relations should thus be used with care, because they lose their universality in astrophysical situations involving compact objects rotating faster than a few hundred Hz

  4. QUANTUM NATURE OF CYCLOTRON HARMONICS IN THERMAL SPECTRA OF NEUTRON STARS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Suleimanov, V. F.; Werner, K.; Pavlov, G. G.

    2010-01-01

    Some isolated neutron stars (NSs) show harmonically spaced absorption features in their thermal soft X-ray spectra. The interpretation of the features as a cyclotron line and its harmonics has been suggested, but the usual explanation of the harmonics as caused by relativistic effects fails because the relativistic corrections are extremely small in this case. We suggest that the features, known as quantum oscillations, correspond to the peaks in the energy dependence of the free-free opacity in a quantizing magnetic field. The peaks arise when the transitions to new Landau levels become allowed with increasing the photon energy; they are strongly enhanced by the square-root singularities in the phase-space density of quantum states in the case when the free (non-quantized) motion is effectively one dimensional. To explore observable properties of these quantum oscillations, we calculate models of hydrogen NS atmospheres with B ∼ 10 10 -10 11 G (i.e., electron cyclotron energy E c,e ∼ 0.1-1 keV) and T eff = 1-3 MK. Such conditions are thought to be typical for the so-called central compact objects in supernova remnants, such as 1E 1207.4-5209 in PKS 1209-51/52. We show that observable features at the electron cyclotron harmonics form at moderately large values of the quantization parameter, b eff ≡ E c,e /kT eff ≅ 0.5-20. The equivalent widths of the features can reach ∼100-200 eV; they grow with increasing b eff and are lower for higher harmonics.

  5. A strongly heated neutron star in the transient z source MAXI J0556-332

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Homan, Jeroen; Remillard, Ronald A. [MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, 77 Massachusetts Avenue 37-582D, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States); Fridriksson, Joel K.; Wijnands, Rudy [Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy, University of Amsterdam, Postbus 94249, 1090 GE Amsterdam (Netherlands); Cackett, Edward M. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Wayne State University, 666 W. Hancock St., Detroit, MI 48201 (United States); Degenaar, Nathalie [Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, 500 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States); Linares, Manuel [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, c/ Vía Láctea s/n, E-38205 La Laguna, Tenerife (Spain); Lin, Dacheng, E-mail: jeroen@space.mit.edu [Space Science Center, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824 (United States)

    2014-11-10

    We present Chandra, XMM-Newton, and Swift observations of the quiescent neutron star in the transient low-mass X-ray binary MAXI J0556-332. Observations of the source made during outburst (with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer) reveal tracks in its X-ray color-color and hardness-intensity diagrams that closely resemble those of the neutron-star Z sources, suggesting that MAXI J0556-332 had near- or super-Eddington luminosities for a large part of its ∼16 month outburst. A comparison of these diagrams with those of other Z sources suggests a source distance of 46 ± 15 kpc. Fits to the quiescent spectra of MAXI J0556-332 with a neutron-star atmosphere model (with or without a power-law component) result in distance estimates of 45 ± 3 kpc, for a neutron-star radius of 10 km and a mass of 1.4 M {sub ☉}. The spectra show the effective surface temperature of the neutron star decreasing monotonically over the first ∼500 days of quiescence, except for two observations that were likely affected by enhanced low-level accretion. The temperatures we obtain for the fits that include a power law (kT{sub eff}{sup ∞} = 184-308 eV) are much higher than those seen for any other neutron star heated by accretion, while the inferred cooling (e-folding) timescale (∼200 days) is similar to other sources. Fits without a power law yield higher temperatures (kT{sub eff}{sup ∞} = 190-336 eV) and a shorter e-folding time (∼160 days). Our results suggest that the heating of the neutron-star crust in MAXI J0556-332 was considerably more efficient than for other systems, possibly indicating additional or more efficient shallow heat sources in its crust.

  6. A dynamical description of neutron star crusts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mota, V de la; S, F; Eudes, Ph

    2013-01-01

    Neutron Stars are natural laboratories where fundamental properties of matter under extreme conditions can be explored. Modern nuclear physics input as well as many-body theories are valuable tools which may allow us to improve our understanding of the physics of those compact objects. In this work the occurrence of exotic structures in the outermost layers of neutron stars is investigated within the framework of a microscopic model. In this approach the nucleonic dynamics is described by a time-dependent mean field approach at around zero temperature. Starting from an initial crystalline lattice of nuclei at subnuclear densities the system evolves toward a manifold of self-organized structures with different shapes and similar energies. These structures are studied in terms of a phase diagram in density and the corresponding sensitivity to the isospin-dependent part of the equation of state and to the isotopic composition is investigated.

  7. Systematic Analysis of the Effects of Mode Conversion on Thermal Radiation from Neutron Stars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yatabe, Akihiro; Yamada, Shoichi

    2017-12-01

    In this paper, we systematically calculate the polarization in soft X-rays emitted from magnetized neutron stars, which are expected to be observed by next-generation X-ray satellites. Magnetars are one of the targets for these observations. This is because thermal radiation is normally observed in the soft X-ray band, and it is thought to be linearly polarized because of different opacities for two polarization modes of photons in the magnetized atmosphere of neutron stars and the dielectric properties of the vacuum in strong magnetic fields. In their study, Taverna et al. illustrated how strong magnetic fields influence the behavior of the polarization observables for radiation propagating in vacuo without addressing a precise, physical emission model. In this paper, we pay attention to the conversion of photon polarization modes that can occur in the presence of an atmospheric layer above the neutron star surface, computing the polarization angle and fraction and systematically changing the magnetic field strength, radii of the emission region, temperature, mass, and radii of the neutron stars. We confirmed that if plasma is present, the effects of mode conversion cannot be neglected when the magnetic field is relatively weak, B∼ {10}13 {{G}}. Our results indicate that strongly magnetized (B≳ {10}14 {{G}}) neutron stars are suitable to detect polarizations, but not-so-strongly magnetized (B∼ {10}13 {{G}}) neutron stars will be the ones to confirm the mode conversion.

  8. Constraining the EOS of Neutron-Rich Nuclear Matter and Properties of Neutron Stars with Heavy-Ion Reactions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Baoan; Worley, Aaron; Chen, L.-W.; Ko, Che Ming; Krastev, Plamen G.; Wen Dehua; Xiao Zhigang; Zhang Ming; Xu Jun; Yong Gaochan

    2009-01-01

    Heavy-ion reactions especially those induced by radioactive beams provide useful information about the density dependence of the nuclear symmetry energy, thus the Equation of State of neutron-rich nuclear matter, relevant for many astrophysical studies. The latest developments in constraining the symmetry energy at both sub- and supra-saturation densities from analyses of the isopsin diffusion and the π - /π + ratio in heavy-ion collisions using the IBUU04 transport model are discussed. Astrophysical ramifications of the partially constrained symmetry energy on properties of neutron star crusts, gravitational waves emitted by deformed pulsars and the w-mode oscillations of neutron stars are presented briefly.

  9. Topology of White Stars in Relativistic Fragmentation of Light Nuclei

    CERN Document Server

    Andreeva, N P; Vokal, S; Vokalova, A; Gaitinov, A Sh; Gerassimov, S G; Goncharova, L A; Dronov, V A; Zarubin, P I; Zarubina, I G; Kovalenko, A D; Kravchakova, A; Larionova, V G; Levitskaja, O V; Lepehin, F G; Malakhov, A I; Moiseenko, A A; Orlova, G I; Peresadko, N G; Polukhina, N G; Rukojatkin, P A; Rusakova, V V; Salmanova, N A; Sarkisian, V R; Simonov, B B; Stan, E; Stanoeva, R; Chernyavsky, M M; Haidue, M; Kharlamov, S P; Tsakov, I; Shchedrina, T V

    2004-01-01

    In the present paper, experimental observation of the multifragmentation processes of light relativistic nuclei carried out by means of emulsions are reviewed. Events of the type of "white stars" in which the dissociation of relativistic nuclei is not accompanied by the production of mesons and the target-nucleus fragments are considered. A distinctive feature of the charge topology in the dissociation of the Ne, Mg, Si and S nuclei is an almost total suppression of the binary splitting of nuclei to fragments with charges higher than 2. The growth of the nuclear fragmentation degree is revealed in an increase in the multiplicity of singly and doubly charged fragments with decreasing charge of the main non-excited part of the fragmenting nucleus. The processes of dissociation of stable Li, Be, B, C, N, and O isotopes to charged fragments were used to study special features of the formation of systems consisting of the lightest nuclei - alpha, d and t. Clustering of the 3He nucleus can be detected in "white sta...

  10. High energy radiation from neutron stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ruderman, M.

    1985-04-01

    Topics covered include young rapidly spinning pulsars; static gaps in outer magnetospheres; dynamic gaps in pulsar outer magnetospheres; pulse structure of energetic radiation sustained by outer gap pair production; outer gap radiation, Crab pulsar; outer gap radiation, the Vela pulsar; radioemission; and high energy radiation during the accretion spin-up of older neutron stars. 26 refs., 10 figs

  11. Cooling of Accretion-Heated Neutron Stars

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Rudy Wijnands

    2017-09-12

    Sep 12, 2017 ... the magnetic field might play an important role in the heating and cooling of the neutron stars. .... Source near Sgr A ..... marked the start of the research field that uses the cool- ... This curve is just to guide the eye for the individual sources and it is clear ..... Not all accretion-induced nuclear reactions might.

  12. Growth of black holes in the interior of rotating neutron stars

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kouvaris, C.; Tinyakov, P.

    2014-01-01

    Mini-black holes made of dark matter that can potentially form in the interior of neutron stars always have been thought to grow by accreting the matter of the core of the star via a spherical Bondi accretion. However, neutron stars have sometimes significant angular velocities that can...... in principle stall the spherical accretion and potentially change the conclusions derived about the time it takes for black holes to destroy a star. We study the effect of the star rotation on the growth of such black holes and the evolution of the black hole spin. Assuming no mechanisms of angular momentum...... evacuation, we find that even moderate rotation rates can in fact destroy spherical accretion at the early stages of the black hole growth. However, we demonstrate that the viscosity of nuclear matter can alleviate the effect of rotation, making it possible for the black hole to maintain spherical accretion...

  13. Fallback accretion onto magnetized neutron stars and the hidden magnetic field model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Torres, A; Cerdá-Durán, P; Font, J A

    2015-01-01

    The observation of several neutron stars with relatively low values of the surface magnetic field found in supernova remnants has led in recent years to controversial interpretations. A possible explanation is the slow rotation of the proto-neutron star at birth which is unable to amplify its magnetic field to typical pulsar levels. An alternative possibility, the hidden magnetic field scenario, seems to be favoured over the previous one due to the observation of three low magnetic field magnetars. This scenario considers the accretion of the fallback of the supernova debris onto the neutron star as the responsible for the observed low magnetic field. In this work, we have studied under which conditions the magnetic field of a neutron star can be buried into the crust due to an accreting fluid. We have considered a simplified toy model in general relativity to estimate the balance between the incoming accretion flow an the magnetosphere. We conclude that the burial is possible for values of the surface magnetic field below 10 13 G. The preliminary results reported in this paper for simplified polytropic models should be confirmed using a more realistic thermodynamical setup. (paper)

  14. Probing the Physics of Core-Collapse Supernovae and Ultra-Relativistic Outflows using Pulsar Wind Nebulae

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gelfand, Joseph

    Core-collapse supernovae, the powerful explosions triggered by the gravitational collapse of massive stars, play an important role in evolution of star-forming galaxies like our Milky Way. Not only do these explosions eject the outer envelope of the progenitor star with extremely high velocities, creating a supernova remnant (SNR), the rotational energy of the resultant neutron star powers an ultra-relativistic outflow called a pulsar wind which creates a pulsar wind nebula (PWN) as it expands into its surroundings. Despite almost a century of study, many fundamental questions remain, including: How is a neutron star formed during a core-collapse supernova? How are particles created in the neutron star magnetosphere? How are particles accelerated to the PeV energies inside PWNe? Answering these questions requires measuring the properties of the progenitor star and pulsar wind for a diverse collection of neutron stars. Currently, this is best done by studying those PWNe inside a SNR, since their evolution is very sensitive to the initial spin period of the neutron star, the mass and initial kinetic energy of the supernova ejecta, and the magnetization and particle spectrum of the pulsar wind - quantities critical for answering the above questions. To this end, we propose to measure these properties for 17 neutron stars whose spin-down inferred dipole surface magnetic field strengths and characteristic ages differ by 1.5 orders of magnitude by fitting the broadband spectral energy distribution (SED) and dynamical properties of their associated PWNe with a model for the dynamical and spectral evolution of a PWN inside SNR. To do so, we will first re-analyze all archival X-ray (e.g., XMM, Chandra, INTEGRAL, NuSTAR) and gamma-ray (e.g., Fermi-LAT Pass 8) data on each PWN to ensure consistent measurements of the volume-integrated properties (e.g., X-ray photon index and unabsorbed flux, GeV spectrum) needed for this analysis. Additionally, we will use a Markoff Chain

  15. Searching for gravitational waves from neutron stars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Idrisy, Ashikuzzaman

    In this dissertation we discuss gravitational waves (GWs) and their neutron star (NS) sources. We begin with a general discussion of the motivation for searching for GWs and the indirect experimental evidence of their existence. Then we discuss the various mechanisms through which NS can emit GWs, paying special attention the r-mode oscillations. Finally we end with discussion of GW detection. In Chapter 2 we describe research into the frequencies of r-mode oscillations. Knowing these frequencies can be useful for guiding and interpreting gravitational wave and electromagnetic observations. The frequencies of slowly rotating, barotropic, and non-magnetic Newtonian stars are well known, but subject to various corrections. After making simple estimates of the relative strengths of these corrections we conclude that relativistic corrections are the most important. For this reason we extend the formalism of K. H. Lockitch, J. L. Friedman, and N. Andersson [Phys. Rev. D 68, 124010 (2003)], who consider relativistic polytropes, to the case of realistic equations of state. This formulation results in perturbation equations which are solved using a spectral method. We find that for realistic equations of state the r-mode frequency ranges from 1.39--1.57 times the spin frequency of the star when the relativistic compactness parameter (M/R) is varied over the astrophysically motivated interval 0.110--0.310. Following a successful r-mode detection our results can help constrain the high density equation of state. In Chapter 3 we present a technical introduction to the data analysis tools used in GW searches. Starting from the plane-wave solutions derived in Chapter 1 we develop the F-statistic used in the matched filtering technique. This technique relies on coherently integrating the GW detector's data stream with a theoretically modeled wave signal. The statistic is used to test the null hypothesis that the data contains no signal. In this chapter we also discuss how to

  16. ON THE GEOMETRIC NATURE OF LOW-FREQUENCY QUASI-PERIODIC OSCILLATIONS IN NEUTRON-STAR LOW-MASS X-RAY BINARIES

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Homan, Jeroen; Remillard, Ronald A. [MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, 77 Massachusetts Avenue 37-582D, Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States); Fridriksson, Joel K., E-mail: jeroen@space.mit.edu [Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy, University of Amsterdam, Postbus 94249, 1090 GE Amsterdam (Netherlands)

    2015-10-10

    We report on a detailed analysis of the so-called ∼1 Hz quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) in the eclipsing and dipping neutron-star low-mass X-ray binary EXO 0748–676. This type of QPO has previously been shown to have a geometric origin. Our study focuses on the evolution of the QPO as the source moves through the color–color diagram in which it traces out an atoll-source-like track. The QPO frequency increases from ∼0.4 Hz in the hard state to ∼25 Hz as the source approaches the soft state. Combining power spectra based on QPO frequency reveals additional features that strongly resemble those seen in non-dipping/eclipsing atoll sources. We show that the low-frequency QPOs in atoll sources and the ∼1 Hz QPO in EXO 0748–676 follow similar relations with respect to the noise components in their power spectra. We conclude that the frequencies of both types of QPOs are likely set by (the same) precession of a misaligned inner accretion disk. For high-inclination systems like EXO 0748–676 this results in modulations of the neutron-star emission due to obscuration or scattering, while for lower-inclination systems the modulations likely arise from relativistic Doppler-boosting and light-bending effects.

  17. Physics of dense matter, neutron stars, and supernova

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Glendenning, N.K.

    1989-02-01

    Nuclear and astrophysical evidence on the equation of state of dense matter is examined. The role of hyperonization of matter in the development of proto-neutron stars is briefly discussed. 7 refs., 4 figs

  18. GW170817: Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Neutron Star Inspiral.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abbott, B P; Abbott, R; Abbott, T D; Acernese, F; Ackley, K; Adams, C; Adams, T; Addesso, P; Adhikari, R X; Adya, V B; Affeldt, C; Afrough, M; Agarwal, B; Agathos, M; Agatsuma, K; Aggarwal, N; Aguiar, O D; Aiello, L; Ain, A; Ajith, P; Allen, B; Allen, G; Allocca, A; Altin, P A; Amato, A; Ananyeva, A; Anderson, S B; Anderson, W G; Angelova, S V; Antier, S; Appert, S; Arai, K; Araya, M C; Areeda, J S; Arnaud, N; Arun, K G; Ascenzi, S; Ashton, G; Ast, M; Aston, S M; Astone, P; Atallah, D V; Aufmuth, P; Aulbert, C; AultONeal, K; Austin, C; Avila-Alvarez, A; Babak, S; Bacon, P; Bader, M K M; Bae, S; Bailes, M; Baker, P T; Baldaccini, F; Ballardin, G; Ballmer, S W; Banagiri, S; Barayoga, J C; Barclay, S E; Barish, B C; Barker, D; Barkett, K; Barone, F; Barr, B; Barsotti, L; Barsuglia, M; Barta, D; Barthelmy, S D; Bartlett, J; Bartos, I; Bassiri, R; Basti, A; Batch, J C; Bawaj, M; Bayley, J C; Bazzan, M; Bécsy, B; Beer, C; Bejger, M; Belahcene, I; Bell, A S; Berger, B K; Bergmann, G; Bernuzzi, S; Bero, J J; Berry, C P L; Bersanetti, D; Bertolini, A; Betzwieser, J; Bhagwat, S; Bhandare, R; Bilenko, I A; Billingsley, G; Billman, C R; Birch, J; Birney, R; Birnholtz, O; Biscans, S; Biscoveanu, S; Bisht, A; Bitossi, M; Biwer, C; Bizouard, M A; Blackburn, J K; Blackman, J; Blair, C D; Blair, D G; Blair, R M; Bloemen, S; Bock, O; Bode, N; Boer, M; Bogaert, G; Bohe, A; Bondu, F; Bonilla, E; Bonnand, R; Boom, B A; Bork, R; Boschi, V; Bose, S; Bossie, K; Bouffanais, Y; Bozzi, A; Bradaschia, C; Brady, P R; Branchesi, M; Brau, J E; Briant, T; Brillet, A; Brinkmann, M; Brisson, V; Brockill, P; Broida, J E; Brooks, A F; Brown, D A; Brown, D D; Brunett, S; Buchanan, C C; Buikema, A; Bulik, T; Bulten, H J; Buonanno, A; Buskulic, D; Buy, C; Byer, R L; Cabero, M; Cadonati, L; Cagnoli, G; Cahillane, C; Calderón Bustillo, J; Callister, T A; Calloni, E; Camp, J B; Canepa, M; Canizares, P; Cannon, K C; Cao, H; Cao, J; Capano, C D; Capocasa, E; Carbognani, F; Caride, S; Carney, M F; Carullo, G; Casanueva Diaz, J; Casentini, C; Caudill, S; Cavaglià, M; Cavalier, F; Cavalieri, R; Cella, G; Cepeda, C B; Cerdá-Durán, P; Cerretani, G; Cesarini, E; Chamberlin, S J; Chan, M; Chao, S; Charlton, P; Chase, E; Chassande-Mottin, E; Chatterjee, D; Chatziioannou, K; Cheeseboro, B D; Chen, H Y; Chen, X; Chen, Y; Cheng, H-P; Chia, H; Chincarini, A; Chiummo, A; Chmiel, T; Cho, H S; Cho, M; Chow, J H; Christensen, N; Chu, Q; Chua, A J K; Chua, S; Chung, A K W; Chung, S; Ciani, G; Ciolfi, R; Cirelli, C E; Cirone, A; Clara, F; Clark, J A; Clearwater, P; Cleva, F; Cocchieri, C; Coccia, E; Cohadon, P-F; Cohen, D; Colla, A; Collette, C G; Cominsky, L R; Constancio, M; Conti, L; Cooper, S J; Corban, P; Corbitt, T R; Cordero-Carrión, I; Corley, K R; Cornish, N; Corsi, A; Cortese, S; Costa, C A; Coughlin, M W; Coughlin, S B; Coulon, J-P; Countryman, S T; Couvares, P; Covas, P B; Cowan, E E; Coward, D M; Cowart, M J; Coyne, D C; Coyne, R; Creighton, J D E; Creighton, T D; Cripe, J; Crowder, S G; Cullen, T J; Cumming, A; Cunningham, L; Cuoco, E; Dal Canton, T; Dálya, G; Danilishin, S L; D'Antonio, S; Danzmann, K; Dasgupta, A; Da Silva Costa, C F; Dattilo, V; Dave, I; Davier, M; Davis, D; Daw, E J; Day, B; De, S; DeBra, D; Degallaix, J; De Laurentis, M; Deléglise, S; Del Pozzo, W; Demos, N; Denker, T; Dent, T; De Pietri, R; Dergachev, V; De Rosa, R; DeRosa, R T; De Rossi, C; DeSalvo, R; de Varona, O; Devenson, J; Dhurandhar, S; Díaz, M C; Dietrich, T; Di Fiore, L; Di Giovanni, M; Di Girolamo, T; Di Lieto, A; Di Pace, S; Di Palma, I; Di Renzo, F; Doctor, Z; Dolique, V; Donovan, F; Dooley, K L; Doravari, S; Dorrington, I; Douglas, R; Dovale Álvarez, M; Downes, T P; Drago, M; Dreissigacker, C; Driggers, J C; Du, Z; Ducrot, M; Dudi, R; Dupej, P; Dwyer, S E; Edo, T B; Edwards, M C; Effler, A; Eggenstein, H-B; Ehrens, P; Eichholz, J; Eikenberry, S S; Eisenstein, R A; Essick, R C; Estevez, D; Etienne, Z B; Etzel, T; Evans, M; Evans, T M; Factourovich, M; Fafone, V; Fair, H; Fairhurst, S; Fan, X; Farinon, S; Farr, B; Farr, W M; Fauchon-Jones, E J; Favata, M; Fays, M; Fee, C; Fehrmann, H; Feicht, J; Fejer, M M; Fernandez-Galiana, A; Ferrante, I; Ferreira, E C; Ferrini, F; Fidecaro, F; Finstad, D; Fiori, I; Fiorucci, D; Fishbach, M; Fisher, R P; Fitz-Axen, M; Flaminio, R; Fletcher, M; Fong, H; Font, J A; Forsyth, P W F; Forsyth, S S; Fournier, J-D; Frasca, S; Frasconi, F; Frei, Z; Freise, A; Frey, R; Frey, V; Fries, E M; Fritschel, P; Frolov, V V; Fulda, P; Fyffe, M; Gabbard, H; Gadre, B U; Gaebel, S M; Gair, J R; Gammaitoni, L; Ganija, M R; Gaonkar, S G; Garcia-Quiros, C; Garufi, F; Gateley, B; Gaudio, S; Gaur, G; Gayathri, V; Gehrels, N; Gemme, G; Genin, E; Gennai, A; George, D; George, J; Gergely, L; Germain, V; Ghonge, S; Ghosh, Abhirup; Ghosh, Archisman; Ghosh, S; Giaime, J A; Giardina, K D; Giazotto, A; Gill, K; Glover, L; Goetz, E; Goetz, R; Gomes, S; Goncharov, B; González, G; Gonzalez Castro, J M; Gopakumar, A; Gorodetsky, M L; Gossan, S E; Gosselin, M; Gouaty, R; Grado, A; Graef, C; Granata, M; Grant, A; Gras, S; Gray, C; Greco, G; Green, A C; Gretarsson, E M; Groot, P; Grote, H; Grunewald, S; Gruning, P; Guidi, G M; Guo, X; Gupta, A; Gupta, M K; Gushwa, K E; Gustafson, E K; Gustafson, R; Halim, O; Hall, B R; Hall, E D; Hamilton, E Z; Hammond, G; Haney, M; Hanke, M M; Hanks, J; Hanna, C; Hannam, M D; Hannuksela, O A; Hanson, J; Hardwick, T; Harms, J; Harry, G M; Harry, I W; Hart, M J; Haster, C-J; Haughian, K; Healy, J; Heidmann, A; Heintze, M C; Heitmann, H; Hello, P; Hemming, G; Hendry, M; Heng, I S; Hennig, J; Heptonstall, A W; Heurs, M; Hild, S; Hinderer, T; Ho, W C G; Hoak, D; Hofman, D; Holt, K; Holz, D E; Hopkins, P; Horst, C; Hough, J; Houston, E A; Howell, E J; Hreibi, A; Hu, Y M; Huerta, E A; Huet, D; Hughey, B; Husa, S; Huttner, S H; Huynh-Dinh, T; Indik, N; Inta, R; Intini, G; Isa, H N; Isac, J-M; Isi, M; Iyer, B R; Izumi, K; Jacqmin, T; Jani, K; Jaranowski, P; Jawahar, S; Jiménez-Forteza, F; Johnson, W W; Johnson-McDaniel, N K; Jones, D I; Jones, R; Jonker, R J G; Ju, L; Junker, J; Kalaghatgi, C V; Kalogera, V; Kamai, B; Kandhasamy, S; Kang, G; Kanner, J B; Kapadia, S J; Karki, S; Karvinen, K S; Kasprzack, M; Kastaun, W; Katolik, M; Katsavounidis, E; Katzman, W; Kaufer, S; Kawabe, K; Kéfélian, F; Keitel, D; Kemball, A J; Kennedy, R; Kent, C; Key, J S; Khalili, F Y; Khan, I; Khan, S; Khan, Z; Khazanov, E A; Kijbunchoo, N; Kim, Chunglee; Kim, J C; Kim, K; Kim, W; Kim, W S; Kim, Y-M; Kimbrell, S J; King, E J; King, P J; Kinley-Hanlon, M; Kirchhoff, R; Kissel, J S; Kleybolte, L; Klimenko, S; Knowles, T D; Koch, P; Koehlenbeck, S M; Koley, S; Kondrashov, V; Kontos, A; Korobko, M; Korth, W Z; Kowalska, I; Kozak, D B; Krämer, C; Kringel, V; Krishnan, B; Królak, A; Kuehn, G; Kumar, P; Kumar, R; Kumar, S; Kuo, L; Kutynia, A; Kwang, S; Lackey, B D; Lai, K H; Landry, M; Lang, R N; Lange, J; Lantz, B; Lanza, R K; Larson, S L; Lartaux-Vollard, A; Lasky, P D; Laxen, M; Lazzarini, A; Lazzaro, C; Leaci, P; Leavey, S; Lee, C H; Lee, H K; Lee, H M; Lee, H W; Lee, K; Lehmann, J; Lenon, A; Leon, E; Leonardi, M; Leroy, N; Letendre, N; Levin, Y; Li, T G F; Linker, S D; Littenberg, T B; Liu, J; Liu, X; Lo, R K L; Lockerbie, N A; London, L T; Lord, J E; Lorenzini, M; Loriette, V; Lormand, M; Losurdo, G; Lough, J D; Lousto, C O; Lovelace, G; Lück, H; Lumaca, D; Lundgren, A P; Lynch, R; Ma, Y; Macas, R; Macfoy, S; Machenschalk, B; MacInnis, M; Macleod, D M; Magaña Hernandez, I; Magaña-Sandoval, F; Magaña Zertuche, L; Magee, R M; Majorana, E; Maksimovic, I; Man, N; Mandic, V; Mangano, V; Mansell, G L; Manske, M; Mantovani, M; Marchesoni, F; Marion, F; Márka, S; Márka, Z; Markakis, C; Markosyan, A S; Markowitz, A; Maros, E; Marquina, A; Marsh, P; Martelli, F; Martellini, L; Martin, I W; Martin, R M; Martynov, D V; Marx, J N; Mason, K; Massera, E; Masserot, A; Massinger, T J; Masso-Reid, M; Mastrogiovanni, S; Matas, A; Matichard, F; Matone, L; Mavalvala, N; Mazumder, N; McCarthy, R; McClelland, D E; McCormick, S; McCuller, L; McGuire, S C; McIntyre, G; McIver, J; McManus, D J; McNeill, L; McRae, T; McWilliams, S T; Meacher, D; Meadors, G D; Mehmet, M; Meidam, J; Mejuto-Villa, E; Melatos, A; Mendell, G; Mercer, R A; Merilh, E L; Merzougui, M; Meshkov, S; Messenger, C; Messick, C; Metzdorff, R; Meyers, P M; Miao, H; Michel, C; Middleton, H; Mikhailov, E E; Milano, L; Miller, A L; Miller, B B; Miller, J; Millhouse, M; Milovich-Goff, M C; Minazzoli, O; Minenkov, Y; Ming, J; Mishra, C; Mitra, S; Mitrofanov, V P; Mitselmakher, G; Mittleman, R; Moffa, D; Moggi, A; Mogushi, K; Mohan, M; Mohapatra, S R P; Molina, I; Montani, M; Moore, C J; Moraru, D; Moreno, G; Morisaki, S; Morriss, S R; Mours, B; Mow-Lowry, C M; Mueller, G; Muir, A W; Mukherjee, Arunava; Mukherjee, D; Mukherjee, S; Mukund, N; Mullavey, A; Munch, J; Muñiz, E A; Muratore, M; Murray, P G; Nagar, A; Napier, K; Nardecchia, I; Naticchioni, L; Nayak, R K; Neilson, J; Nelemans, G; Nelson, T J N; Nery, M; Neunzert, A; Nevin, L; Newport, J M; Newton, G; Ng, K K Y; Nguyen, P; Nguyen, T T; Nichols, D; Nielsen, A B; Nissanke, S; Nitz, A; Noack, A; Nocera, F; Nolting, D; North, C; Nuttall, L K; Oberling, J; O'Dea, G D; Ogin, G H; Oh, J J; Oh, S H; Ohme, F; Okada, M A; Oliver, M; Oppermann, P; Oram, Richard J; O'Reilly, B; Ormiston, R; Ortega, L F; O'Shaughnessy, R; Ossokine, S; Ottaway, D J; Overmier, H; Owen, B J; Pace, A E; Page, J; Page, M A; Pai, A; Pai, S A; Palamos, J R; Palashov, O; Palomba, C; Pal-Singh, A; Pan, Howard; Pan, Huang-Wei; Pang, B; Pang, P T H; Pankow, C; Pannarale, F; Pant, B C; Paoletti, F; Paoli, A; Papa, M A; Parida, A; Parker, W; Pascucci, D; Pasqualetti, A; Passaquieti, R; Passuello, D; Patil, M; Patricelli, B; Pearlstone, B L; Pedraza, M; Pedurand, R; Pekowsky, L; Pele, A; Penn, S; Perez, C J; Perreca, A; Perri, L M; Pfeiffer, H P; Phelps, M; Piccinni, O J; Pichot, M; Piergiovanni, F; Pierro, V; Pillant, G; Pinard, L; Pinto, I M; Pirello, M; Pitkin, M; Poe, M; Poggiani, R; Popolizio, P; Porter, E K; Post, A; Powell, J; Prasad, J; Pratt, J W W; Pratten, G; Predoi, V; Prestegard, T; Prijatelj, M; Principe, M; Privitera, S; Prix, R; Prodi, G A; Prokhorov, L G; Puncken, O; Punturo, M; Puppo, P; Pürrer, M; Qi, H; Quetschke, V; Quintero, E A; Quitzow-James, R; Raab, F J; Rabeling, D S; Radkins, H; Raffai, P; Raja, S; Rajan, C; Rajbhandari, B; Rakhmanov, M; Ramirez, K E; Ramos-Buades, A; Rapagnani, P; Raymond, V; Razzano, M; Read, J; Regimbau, T; Rei, L; Reid, S; Reitze, D H; Ren, W; Reyes, S D; Ricci, F; Ricker, P M; Rieger, S; Riles, K; Rizzo, M; Robertson, N A; Robie, R; Robinet, F; Rocchi, A; Rolland, L; Rollins, J G; Roma, V J; Romano, J D; Romano, R; Romel, C L; Romie, J H; Rosińska, D; Ross, M P; Rowan, S; Rüdiger, A; Ruggi, P; Rutins, G; Ryan, K; Sachdev, S; Sadecki, T; Sadeghian, L; Sakellariadou, M; Salconi, L; Saleem, M; Salemi, F; Samajdar, A; Sammut, L; Sampson, L M; Sanchez, E J; Sanchez, L E; Sanchis-Gual, N; Sandberg, V; Sanders, J R; Sassolas, B; Sathyaprakash, B S; Saulson, P R; Sauter, O; Savage, R L; Sawadsky, A; Schale, P; Scheel, M; Scheuer, J; Schmidt, J; Schmidt, P; Schnabel, R; Schofield, R M S; Schönbeck, A; Schreiber, E; Schuette, D; Schulte, B W; Schutz, B F; Schwalbe, S G; Scott, J; Scott, S M; Seidel, E; Sellers, D; Sengupta, A S; Sentenac, D; Sequino, V; Sergeev, A; Shaddock, D A; Shaffer, T J; Shah, A A; Shahriar, M S; Shaner, M B; Shao, L; Shapiro, B; Shawhan, P; Sheperd, A; Shoemaker, D H; Shoemaker, D M; Siellez, K; Siemens, X; Sieniawska, M; Sigg, D; Silva, A D; Singer, L P; Singh, A; Singhal, A; Sintes, A M; Slagmolen, B J J; Smith, B; Smith, J R; Smith, R J E; Somala, S; Son, E J; Sonnenberg, J A; Sorazu, B; Sorrentino, F; Souradeep, T; Spencer, A P; Srivastava, A K; Staats, K; Staley, A; Steinke, M; Steinlechner, J; Steinlechner, S; Steinmeyer, D; Stevenson, S P; Stone, R; Stops, D J; Strain, K A; Stratta, G; Strigin, S E; Strunk, A; Sturani, R; Stuver, A L; Summerscales, T Z; Sun, L; Sunil, S; Suresh, J; Sutton, P J; Swinkels, B L; Szczepańczyk, M J; Tacca, M; Tait, S C; Talbot, C; Talukder, D; Tanner, D B; Tápai, M; Taracchini, A; Tasson, J D; Taylor, J A; Taylor, R; Tewari, S V; Theeg, T; Thies, F; Thomas, E G; Thomas, M; Thomas, P; Thorne, K A; Thorne, K S; Thrane, E; Tiwari, S; Tiwari, V; Tokmakov, K V; Toland, K; Tonelli, M; Tornasi, Z; Torres-Forné, A; Torrie, C I; Töyrä, D; Travasso, F; Traylor, G; Trinastic, J; Tringali, M C; Trozzo, L; Tsang, K W; Tse, M; Tso, R; Tsukada, L; Tsuna, D; Tuyenbayev, D; Ueno, K; Ugolini, D; Unnikrishnan, C S; Urban, A L; Usman, S A; Vahlbruch, H; Vajente, G; Valdes, G; Vallisneri, M; van Bakel, N; van Beuzekom, M; van den Brand, J F J; Van Den Broeck, C; Vander-Hyde, D C; van der Schaaf, L; van Heijningen, J V; van Veggel, A A; Vardaro, M; Varma, V; Vass, S; Vasúth, M; Vecchio, A; Vedovato, G; Veitch, J; Veitch, P J; Venkateswara, K; Venugopalan, G; Verkindt, D; Vetrano, F; Viceré, A; Viets, A D; Vinciguerra, S; Vine, D J; Vinet, J-Y; Vitale, S; Vo, T; Vocca, H; Vorvick, C; Vyatchanin, S P; Wade, A R; Wade, L E; Wade, M; Walet, R; Walker, M; Wallace, L; Walsh, S; Wang, G; Wang, H; Wang, J Z; Wang, W H; Wang, Y F; Ward, R L; Warner, J; Was, M; Watchi, J; Weaver, B; Wei, L-W; Weinert, M; Weinstein, A J; Weiss, R; Wen, L; Wessel, E K; Weßels, P; Westerweck, J; Westphal, T; Wette, K; Whelan, J T; Whitcomb, S E; Whiting, B F; Whittle, C; Wilken, D; Williams, D; Williams, R D; Williamson, A R; Willis, J L; Willke, B; Wimmer, M H; Winkler, W; Wipf, C C; Wittel, H; Woan, G; Woehler, J; Wofford, J; Wong, K W K; Worden, J; Wright, J L; Wu, D S; Wysocki, D M; Xiao, S; Yamamoto, H; Yancey, C C; Yang, L; Yap, M J; Yazback, M; Yu, Hang; Yu, Haocun; Yvert, M; Zadrożny, A; Zanolin, M; Zelenova, T; Zendri, J-P; Zevin, M; Zhang, L; Zhang, M; Zhang, T; Zhang, Y-H; Zhao, C; Zhou, M; Zhou, Z; Zhu, S J; Zhu, X J; Zimmerman, A B; Zucker, M E; Zweizig, J

    2017-10-20

    On August 17, 2017 at 12∶41:04 UTC the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo gravitational-wave detectors made their first observation of a binary neutron star inspiral. The signal, GW170817, was detected with a combined signal-to-noise ratio of 32.4 and a false-alarm-rate estimate of less than one per 8.0×10^{4}  years. We infer the component masses of the binary to be between 0.86 and 2.26  M_{⊙}, in agreement with masses of known neutron stars. Restricting the component spins to the range inferred in binary neutron stars, we find the component masses to be in the range 1.17-1.60  M_{⊙}, with the total mass of the system 2.74_{-0.01}^{+0.04}M_{⊙}. The source was localized within a sky region of 28  deg^{2} (90% probability) and had a luminosity distance of 40_{-14}^{+8}  Mpc, the closest and most precisely localized gravitational-wave signal yet. The association with the γ-ray burst GRB 170817A, detected by Fermi-GBM 1.7 s after the coalescence, corroborates the hypothesis of a neutron star merger and provides the first direct evidence of a link between these mergers and short γ-ray bursts. Subsequent identification of transient counterparts across the electromagnetic spectrum in the same location further supports the interpretation of this event as a neutron star merger. This unprecedented joint gravitational and electromagnetic observation provides insight into astrophysics, dense matter, gravitation, and cosmology.

  19. Magicity of neutron-rich nuclei within relativistic self-consistent approaches

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jia Jie Li

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available The formation of new shell gaps in intermediate mass neutron-rich nuclei is investigated within the relativistic Hartree–Fock–Bogoliubov theory, and the role of the Lorentz pseudo-vector and tensor interactions is analyzed. Based on the Foldy–Wouthuysen transformation, we discuss in detail the role played by the different terms of the Lorentz pseudo-vector and tensor interactions in the appearing of the N=16, 32 and 34 shell gaps. The nuclei 24O, 48Si and 52,54Ca are predicted with a large shell gap and zero (24O, 52Ca or almost zero (48Si, 54Ca pairing gap, making them candidates for new magic numbers in exotic nuclei. We find from our analysis that the Lorentz pseudo-vector and tensor interactions induce very specific evolutions of single-particle energies, which could clearly sign their presence and reveal the need for relativistic approaches with exchange interactions.

  20. Lambda-nuclear interactions and hyperon puzzle in neutron stars

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Haidenbauer, J. [Forschungszentrum Juelich, Institute for Advanced Simulation, Institut fuer Kernphysik and Juelich Center for Hadron Physics, Juelich (Germany); Universitaet Bonn, Helmholtz Institut fuer Strahlen- und Kernphysik and Bethe Center for Theoretical Physics, Bonn (Germany); Meissner, U.G. [Universitaet Bonn, Helmholtz Institut fuer Strahlen- und Kernphysik and Bethe Center for Theoretical Physics, Bonn (Germany); Forschungszentrum Juelich, Institute for Advanced Simulation, Institut fuer Kernphysik and Juelich Center for Hadron Physics, Juelich (Germany); Kaiser, N.; Weise, W. [Technische Universitaet Muenchen, Physik Department, Garching (Germany)

    2017-06-15

    Brueckner theory is used to investigate the in-medium properties of a Λ-hyperon in nuclear and neutron matter, based on hyperon-nucleon interactions derived within SU(3) chiral effective field theory (EFT). It is shown that the resulting Λ single-particle potential U{sub Λ}(p{sub Λ} = 0, ρ) becomes strongly repulsive for densities ρ of two-to-three times that of normal nuclear matter. Adding a density-dependent effective ΛN-interaction constructed from chiral ΛNN three-body forces increases the repulsion further. Consequences of these findings for neutron stars are discussed. It is argued that for hyperon-nuclear interactions with properties such as those deduced from the SU(3) EFT potentials, the onset for hyperon formation in the core of neutron stars could be shifted to much higher density which, in turn, could pave the way for resolving the so-called hyperon puzzle. (orig.)

  1. Symmetry energy, unstable nuclei and neutron star crusts

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Iida, Kei [Kochi University, Department of Natural Science, Kochi (Japan); RIKEN Nishina Center, Saitama (Japan); Oyamatsu, Kazuhiro [RIKEN Nishina Center, Saitama (Japan); Aichi Shukutoku University, Department of Human Informatics, Aichi (Japan)

    2014-02-15

    The phenomenological approach to inhomogeneous nuclear matter is useful to describe fundamental properties of atomic nuclei and neutron star crusts in terms of the equation of state of uniform nuclear matter. We review a series of researches that we have developed by following this approach. We start with more than 200 equations of state that are consistent with empirical masses and charge radii of stable nuclei and then apply them to describe matter radii and masses of unstable nuclei, proton elastic scattering and total reaction cross sections off unstable nuclei, and nuclei in neutron star crusts including nuclear pasta. We finally discuss the possibility of constraining the density dependence of the symmetry energy from experiments on unstable nuclei and even observations of quasi-periodic oscillations in giant flares of soft gamma-ray repeaters. (orig.)

  2. Magnetic properties of neutron-star matter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chao, N.C.

    1975-01-01

    An array of qualitative and quantitative evidence is presented to the effect that neutron-star matter in its ground state is antiferromagnetic rather than ferromagnetic. The energy of pure neutron matter is evaluated as a function of spin polarization by a two-body Jastrow procedure, for densities up to five times that of ordinary nuclear matter. The anti-ferromagnetic state is energetically preferred to states with non-zero spin polarization, and lies considerably lower in energy than the ferromagnetic state. The magnetic susceptibility of the material is calculated as a function of density in the same approximation, with results which are in good agreement with independent estimates [pt

  3. Magnetic properties of neutron-star matter

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chao, N C [PERNAMBUCO UNIV., RECIFE (BRAZIL). INSTITUTO DE FISICA; CLARK, J W [WASHINGTON UNIV., ST. LOUIS, MO. (USA)

    1975-08-01

    An array of qualitative and quantitative evidence is presented to the effect that neutron-star matter in its ground state is antiferromagnetic rather than ferromagnetic. The energy of pure neutron matter is evaluated as a function of spin polarization by a two-body Jastrow procedure, for densities up to five times that of ordinary nuclear matter. The anti-ferromagnetic state is energetically preferred to states with non-zero spin polarization, and lies considerably lower in energy than the ferromagnetic state. The magnetic susceptibility of the material is calculated as a function of density in the same approximation, with results which are in good agreement with independent estimates.

  4. Dispersion and decay of collective modes in neutron star cores

    OpenAIRE

    Kobyakov, D. N.; Pethick, C. J.; Reddy, S.; Schwenk, A.

    2017-01-01

    We calculate the frequencies of collective modes of neutrons, protons and electrons in the outer core of neutron stars. The neutrons and protons are treated in a hydrodynamic approximation and the electrons are regarded as collisionless. The coupling of the nucleons to the electrons leads to Landau damping of the collective modes and to significant dispersion of the low-lying modes. We investigate the sensitivity of the mode frequencies to the strength of entrainment between neutrons and prot...

  5. Bose–Einstein condensation of anti-kaons and neutron star twins

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    We investigate the role of Bose–Einstein condensation (BEC) of anti-kaons on the equation of state (EoS) and other properties of compact stars. In the framework of relativistic mean field model we determine the EoS for -stable hyperon matter and compare it to the situation when anti-kaons condense in the system.

  6. Dark matter, neutron stars, and strange quark matter.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perez-Garcia, M Angeles; Silk, Joseph; Stone, Jirina R

    2010-10-01

    We show that self-annihilating weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) dark matter accreted onto neutron stars may provide a mechanism to seed compact objects with long-lived lumps of strange quark matter, or strangelets, for WIMP masses above a few GeV. This effect may trigger a conversion of most of the star into a strange star. We use an energy estimate for the long-lived strangelet based on the Fermi-gas model combined with the MIT bag model to set a new limit on the possible values of the WIMP mass that can be especially relevant for subdominant species of massive neutralinos.

  7. arXiv Search for Dark Matter Effects on Gravitational Signals from Neutron Star Mergers

    CERN Document Server

    Ellis, John; Hütsi, Gert; Kannike, Kristjan; Marzola, Luca; Raidal, Martti; Vaskonen, Ville

    2018-06-10

    Motivated by the recent detection of the gravitational wave signal emitted by a binary neutron star merger, we analyse the possible impact of dark matter on such signals. We show that dark matter cores in merging neutron stars may yield an observable supplementary peak in the gravitational wave power spectral density following the merger, which could be distinguished from the features produced by the neutron components.

  8. On the capture of dark matter by neutron stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Güver, Tolga; Erkoca, Arif Emre; Sarcevic, Ina; Reno, Mary Hall

    2014-01-01

    We calculate the number of dark matter particles that a neutron star accumulates over its lifetime as it rotates around the center of a galaxy, when the dark matter particle is a self-interacting boson but does not self-annihilate. We take into account dark matter interactions with baryonic matter and the time evolution of the dark matter sphere as it collapses within the neutron star. We show that dark matter self-interactions play an important role in the rapid accumulation of dark matter in the core of the neutron star. We consider the possibility of determining an exclusion region of the parameter space for dark matter mass and dark matter interaction cross section with the nucleons as well as dark matter self-interaction cross section, based on the observation of old neutron stars. We show that for a dark matter density of 10 3 GeV/cm 3 and dark matter mass m χ ∼< 10 GeV, there is a potential exclusion region for dark matter interactions with nucleons that is three orders of magnitude more stringent than without self-interactions. The potential exclusion region for dark matter self-interaction cross sections is many orders of magnitude stronger than the current Bullet Cluster limit. For example, for high dark matter density regions, we find that for m χ ∼ 10 GeV when the dark matter interaction cross section with the nucleons ranges from σ χn ∼ 10 −52 cm 2 to σ χn ∼ 10 −57 cm 2 , the dark matter self-interaction cross section limit is σ χχ ∼< 10 −33 cm 2 , which is about ten orders of magnitude stronger than the Bullet Cluster limit

  9. Neutron star accretion and the neutrino fireball

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Colgate, S.A.; Herant, M.E.; Benz, W.

    1991-01-01

    The mixing necessary to explain the ''Fe'' line widths and possibly the observed red shifts of 1987A is explained in terms of large scale, entropy conserving, up and down flows (calculated with a smooth particle 2-D code) taking place between the neutron star and the explosion shock wave due to the gravity and neutrino deposition. Depending upon conditions of entropy and mass flux further accretion takes place in single events, similar to relaxation oscillator, fed by the downward flows of low entropy matter. The shock, in turn, is driven by the upflow of the buoyant high entropy bubbles. Some accretion events will reach a temperature high enough to create a neutrino ''fireball,'' a region hot enough, 11 Mev, so as to be partially opaque to its own (neutrino) radiation. The continuing neutrino deposition drives the explosion shock until the entropy of matter flowing downwards onto the neutron star is high enough to prevent further accretion. This process should result in a robust supernova explosion

  10. Free precession of neutron stars: some plain truths, cautionary remarks, and assorted speculations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pines, D.; Shaham, J.

    1974-01-01

    A brief summary is presented of present understanding of free precession in neutron stars. Attention is called to some truths concerning such wobble motion and then one describes some current efforts to devise mechanisms for exciting neutron star wobble with particular attention to the Crab and Vela pulsars and to Her X-1. (U.S.)

  11. Binary neutron star merger simulations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bruegmann, Bernd [Jena Univ. (Germany)

    2016-11-01

    Our research focuses on the numerical tools necessary to solve Einstein's equations. In recent years we have been particularly interested in spacetimes consisting of two neutron stars in the final stages of their evolution. Because of the emission of gravitational radiation, the objects are driven together to merge; the emitted gravitational wave signal is visualized. This emitted gravitational radiation carries energy and momentum away from the system and contains information about the system. Late last year the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) began searches for these gravitational wave signals at a sensitivity at which detections are expected. Although such systems can radiate a significant amount of their total mass-energy in gravitational waves, the gravitational wave signals one expects to receive on Earth are not strong, since sources of gravitational waves are often many millions of light years away. Therefore one needs accurate templates for the radiation one expects from such systems in order to be able to extract them out of the detector's noise. Although analytical models exist for compact binary systems when the constituents are well separated, we need numerical simulation to investigate the last orbits before merger to obtain accurate templates and validate analytical approximations. Due to the strong nonlinearity of the equations and the large separation of length scales, these simulations are computationally demanding and need to be run on large supercomputers. When matter is present the computational cost as compared to pure black hole (vacuum) simulations increases even more due to the additional matter fields. But also more interesting astrophysical phenomena can happen. In fact, there is the possibility for a strong electromagnetic signal from the merger (e.g., a short gamma-ray burst or lower-energy electromagnetic signatures from the ejecta) and significant neutrino emission. Additionally, we can expect that

  12. Revisiting Field Burial by Accretion onto Neutron Stars

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Dipanjan Mukherjee

    2017-09-12

    Sep 12, 2017 ... review the recent work on magnetic confinement of accreted matter on neutron stars poles. We present ..... hours to days, see Brown & Bildsten 1998) where the ...... Radhakrishnan, V., Srinivasan, G. 1984, in: Second Asian-.

  13. Order-of-magnitude physics of neutron stars. Estimating their properties from first principles

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Reisenegger, Andreas; Zepeda, Felipe S. [Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Instituto de Astrofisica, Facultad de Fisica, Macul (Chile)

    2016-03-15

    We use basic physics and simple mathematics accessible to advanced undergraduate students to estimate the main properties of neutron stars. We set the stage and introduce relevant concepts by discussing the properties of ''everyday'' matter on Earth, degenerate Fermi gases, white dwarfs, and scaling relations of stellar properties with polytropic equations of state. Then, we discuss various physical ingredients relevant for neutron stars and how they can be combined in order to obtain a couple of different simple estimates of their maximum mass, beyond which they would collapse, turning into black holes. Finally, we use the basic structural parameters of neutron stars to briefly discuss their rotational and electromagnetic properties. (orig.)

  14. Thermonuclear runaways in thick hydrogen rich envelopes of neutron stars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Starrfield, S. G.; Kenyon, S.; Truran, J. W.; Sparks, W. M.

    1981-01-01

    A Lagrangian, fully implicit, one dimensional hydrodynamic computer code was used to evolve thermonuclear runaways in the accreted hydrogen rich envelopes of 1.0 Msub solar neutron stars with radii of 10 km and 20 km. Simulations produce outbursts which last from about 750 seconds to about one week. Peak effective temeratures and luninosities were 26 million K and 80 thousand Lsub solar for the 10 km study and 5.3 millison and 600 Lsub solar for the 20 km study. Hydrodynamic expansion on the 10 km neutron star produced a precursor lasting about one ten thousandth seconds.

  15. Exotic phases in neutron stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li, A.; Burgio, G.F.; Lombardo, U.; Peng, G.X.

    2008-01-01

    The appearance of exotic phases in neutron stars is studied. The possible transition from hadron to quark phase is studied within the density dependent mass quark model, and the kaon condensation within the Nelson and Kaplan model. In both cases a microscopic approach is adopted for dense hadron matter. From the study of the possible coexistence between the two phases it is found that the hybrid phase may strongly hinder the onset of kaon condensation. (author)

  16. Orbital and epicyclic frequencies around neutron and strange stars in R{sup 2} gravity

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Staykov, Kalin V., E-mail: kstaykov@phys.uni-sofia.bg [Department of Theoretical Physics, Faculty of Physics, Sofia University, 1164, Sofia (Bulgaria); Doneva, Daniela D., E-mail: daniela.doneva@uni-tuebingen.de [Theoretical Astrophysics, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, 72076, Tübingen (Germany); INRNE-Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1784, Sofia (Bulgaria); Yazadjiev, Stoytcho S., E-mail: yazad@phys.uni-sofia.bg [Department of Theoretical Physics, Faculty of Physics, Sofia University, 1164, Sofia (Bulgaria); Theoretical Astrophysics, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, 72076, Tübingen (Germany)

    2015-12-21

    According to various models, the orbital and the epicyclic frequencies of particles moving on a circular orbit around compact objects are related to the quasi-periodic oscillations observed in the X-ray flux of some pulsars or black hole candidates. It is expected that they originate from the inner edge of the accretion discs, deep into the gravitational field of the compact objects. Considering the planned new generation X-ray timing observatories with large collective areas, the quasi-periodic oscillations might be an excellent tool for testing gravity in strong field regime and, respectively, alternative gravitational theories. We examine the orbital and the epicyclic frequencies of a particle moving on a circular orbit around neutron or strange stars in R{sup 2} gravity. The case of slow rotation is considered too. The R{sup 2} gravity results are compared to the general relativistic case. We comment on the deviations from general relativity, as well as the deviations due to rotation in both theories.

  17. Orbital and epicyclic frequencies around neutron and strange stars in R{sup 2} gravity

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Staykov, Kalin V. [Sofia University, Department of Theoretical Physics, Faculty of Physics, Sofia (Bulgaria); Doneva, Daniela D. [Eberhard Karls University of Tuebingen, Theoretical Astrophysics, Tuebingen (Germany); INRNE-Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia (Bulgaria); Yazadjiev, Stoytcho S. [Sofia University, Department of Theoretical Physics, Faculty of Physics, Sofia (Bulgaria); Eberhard Karls University of Tuebingen, Theoretical Astrophysics, Tuebingen (Germany)

    2015-12-15

    According to various models, the orbital and the epicyclic frequencies of particles moving on a circular orbit around compact objects are related to the quasi-periodic oscillations observed in the X-ray flux of some pulsars or black hole candidates. It is expected that they originate from the inner edge of the accretion discs, deep into the gravitational field of the compact objects. Considering the planned new generation X-ray timing observatories with large collective areas, the quasi-periodic oscillations might be an excellent tool for testing gravity in strong field regime and, respectively, alternative gravitational theories. We examine the orbital and the epicyclic frequencies of a particle moving on a circular orbit around neutron or strange stars in R{sup 2} gravity. The case of slow rotation is considered too. The R{sup 2} gravity results are compared to the general relativistic case. We comment on the deviations from general relativity, as well as the deviations due to rotation in both theories. (orig.)

  18. The Orbit of X Persei and Its Neutron Star Companion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Delgado-Martí, Hugo; Levine, Alan M.; Pfahl, Eric; Rappaport, Saul A.

    2001-01-01

    We have observed the Be/X-ray pulsar binary system X Per/4U 0352+30 on 61 occasions spanning an interval of 600 days with the PCA instrument on board the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE). Pulse timing analyses of the 837 s pulsations yield strong evidence for the presence of orbital Doppler delays. We confirm the Doppler delays by using measurements made with the All Sky Monitor (ASM) on RXTE. We infer that the orbit is characterized by a period Porb=250 days, a projected semimajor axis of the neutron star axsini=454 lt-s, a mass function f(M)=1.61 Msolar, and a modest eccentricity e=0.11. The measured orbital parameters, together with the known properties of the classical Be star X Per, imply a semimajor axis a=1.8-2.2 AU and an orbital inclination i~26deg-33deg. We discuss the formation of the system in the context of the standard evolutionary scenario for Be/X-ray binaries. We find that the system most likely formed from a pair of massive progenitor stars and probably involved a quasi-stable and nearly conservative transfer of mass from the primary to the secondary. We find that the He star remnant of the primary most likely had a mass probability of a system like that of X Per forming with an orbital eccentricity e<~0.11. We speculate that there may be a substantial population of neutron stars formed with little or no kick. Finally, we discuss the connected topics of the wide orbit and accretion by the neutron star from a stellar wind.

  19. Compact Objects in Astrophysics White Dwarfs, Neutron Stars and Black Holes

    CERN Document Server

    Camenzind, Max

    2007-01-01

    Compact objects are an important class of astronomical objects in current research. Supermassive black holes play an important role in the understanding of the formation of galaxies in the early Universe. Old white dwarfs are nowadays used to calibrate the age of the Universe. Mergers of neutron stars and black holes are the sources of intense gravitational waves which will be measured in the next ten years by gravitational wave detectors. Camenzind's Compact Objects in Astrophysics gives a comprehensive introduction and up-to-date overview about the physical processes behind these objects, covering the field from the beginning to most recent results, including all relevant observations. After a presentation of the taxonomy of compact objects, the basic principles of general relativity are given. The author then discusses in detail the physics and observations of white dwarfs and neutron stars (including the most recent equations of state for neutron star matter), the gravitational field of rapidly rotating c...

  20. Phase transitions in nuclear matter and consequences for neutron stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kaempfer, B.

    1983-04-01

    Estimates of the minimal bombarding energy necessary to reach the quark gluon phase in heavy ion collisions are presented within a hydrodynamical scenario. Further, the consequences of first-order phase transitions from nuclear/neutron matter to pion-condensed matter or quark matter are discussed for neutron stars. (author)