48 research outputs found
Neutron star properties in the Thomas-Fermi model
The modern nucleon-nucleon interaction of Myers and Swiatecki, adjusted to
the properties of finite nuclei, the parameters of the mass formula, and the
behavior of the optical potential is used to calculate the properties of
--equilibrated neutron star matter, and to study the impact of this
equation of state on the properties of (rapidly rotating) neutron stars and
their cooling behavior. The results are in excellent agreement with the outcome
of calculations performed for a broad collection of sophisticated
nonrelativistic as well as relativistic models for the equation of state.Comment: 23 pages, LaTeX, 15 ps-figure
Brightness constraint for cooling models of young neutron stars
We study the systematics of neutron star cooling curves with three
representative masses from the most populated interval of the estimated mass
distribution for compact objects. The cooling simulations are made in the
framework of the nuclear medium cooling (NMC) scenario using different
combinations of possible nucleon-nucleon pairing gaps. Possible heating or
enhanced cooling mechanisms in the crust are not considered. We define a
constraint on the highest possible temperatures for a given age of young
neutron stars and show that this limits the freedom of modeling pairing gaps
and crust properties.Comment: 13 pages 2 figures 1 tabl
Rearrangement of the Fermi Surface of Dense Neutron Matter and Direct Urca Cooling of Neutron Stars
It is proposed that a rearrangement of single-particle degrees of freedom may
occur in a portion of the quantum fluid interior of a neutron star. Such a
rearrangement is associated with the pronounced softening of the spin-isospin
collective mode which, under increasing density, leads to pion condensation.
Arguments and estimates based on fundamental relations of many-body theory show
that one realization of this phenomenon could produce very rapid cooling of the
star via a direct nucelon Urca process displaying a dependence on
temperature.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure
Electronic bulk and domain wall properties in B-site doped hexagonal ErMnO
Acceptor and donor doping is a standard for tailoring semiconductors. More
recently, doping was adapted to optimize the behavior at ferroelectric domain
walls. In contrast to more than a century of research on semiconductors, the
impact of chemical substitutions on the local electronic response at domain
walls is largely unexplored. Here, the hexagonal manganite ErMnO is donor
doped with Ti. Density functional theory calculations show that
Ti goes to the B-site, replacing Mn. Scanning probe microscopy
measurements confirm the robustness of the ferroelectric domain template. The
electronic transport at both macro- and nanoscopic length scales is
characterized. The measurements demonstrate the intrinsic nature of emergent
domain wall currents and point towards Poole-Frenkel conductance as the
dominant transport mechanism. Aside from the new insight into the electronic
properties of hexagonal manganites, B-site doping adds an additional degree of
freedom for tuning the domain wall functionality
X-ray emission from the old pulsar B0950+08
We present the timing and spectral analyses of theXMM-newton data on the
17-Myr-old, nearby radio pulsar B0950+08. This observation revealed pulsations
of the X-ray flux of the pulsar at its radio period. The pulse shape and pulsed
fraction are apparently different at lower and higher energies of the observed
0.2-10 keV energy range, which suggests that the radiation cannot be explained
by a single emission mechanism. The X-ray spectrum of the pulsar can be fitted
with a power-law model with a photon index about 1.75 and an (isotropic)
luminosity about 9.8e29 erg/s in the 0.2-10 keV. Better fits are obtained with
two-component, power-law plus thermal, models with index of 1.30 and 9.7e29
erg/s for the power-law component that presumably originates from the pulsar's
magnetosphere. The thermal component, dominating at E>0.7 keV, can be
interpreted as radiation from heated polar caps on the neutron star surface
covered with a hydrogen atmosphere. The inferred effective temperature, radius,
and bolometric luminosity of the polar caps are about 1 MK, 250 m, and 3e29
erg/s. Optical through X-ray nonthermal spectrum of the pulsar can be described
as a single power-law with index 1.3-1.4 for the two-component X-ray fit. The
ratio of the nonthermal X-ray (1-10 keV) luminosity to the nonthermal optical
(4000-9000 \AA) luminosity is within the range of 1e2-1e3 observed for younger
pulsars, which suggests that the magnetospheric X-ray and optical emissions are
powered by the same mechanism in all pulsars. An upper limit on the temperature
of the bulk of the neutron star surface, inferred from the optical and X-ray
data, is about 0.15 MK. We also analyze X-ray observations of several other old
pulsars, B2224+65, J2043+2740, B0628-28, B1813-36, B1929+10, and B0823+26.Comment: To be published in ApJ. Nonthermal optical and X-ray luminosities of
seven radio pulsars are updated and presented in a new Table. Figure 6
showing the ratios of the luminosities vs. spin-down energy is also update
Diquark Condensates and Compact Star Cooling
The effect of color superconductivity on the cooling of quark stars and
neutron stars with large quark cores is investigated. Various known and new
quark-neutrino processes are studied. As a result, stars being in the color
flavor locked (CFL) color superconducting phase cool down extremely fast. Quark
stars with no crust cool down too rapidly in disagreement with X-ray data. The
cooling of stars being in the N_f =2 color superconducting (2SC) phase with a
crust is compatible with existing X-ray data. Also the cooling history of stars
with hypothetic pion condensate nuclei and a crust does not contradict the
data.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Thermal Evolution of Neutron Stars in 2 Dimensions
There are many factors that contribute to the breaking of the spherical
symmetry of a neutron star. Most notably is rotation, magnetic fields, and/or
accretion of matter from companion stars. All these phenomena influence the
macroscopic structures of neutron stars, but also impact their microscopic
compositions. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the cooling of
rotationally deformed, two-dimensional (2D) neutron stars in the framework of
general relativity theory, with the ultimate goal of better understand the
impact of 2D effects on the thermal evolution of such objects. The equations
that govern the thermal evolution of rotating neutron stars are presented in
this paper. The cooling of neutron stars with different frequencies is computed
self-consistently by combining a fully general relativistic 2D rotation code
with a general relativistic 2D cooling code. We show that rotation can
significantly influence the thermal evolution of rotating neutron stars. Among
the major new aspects are the appearances of hot spots on the poles, and an
increase of the thermal coupling times between the core and the crust of
rotating neutron stars. We show that this increase is independent of the
microscopic properties of the stellar core, but depends only on the frequency
of the star.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, revised versio