Pulsars With Jets May Harbor Dynamically Important Accretion Disks

For many astrophysical sources with jets, there is evidence for the contemporaneous presence of disks. In contrast, pulsars such as the Crab and Vela show jets but have not yet revealed direct evidence for accretion disks. Here we show that for such pulsars, an accretion disk radiating below detectable thresholds may simultaneously account for (1) observed deviations in the braking indices from that of the simple dipole, (2) observed pulsar timing ages, and (3) possibly even the jet morphology via a disk outflow that interacts with the pulsar wind within, collimating and/or redirecting it.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figs., in press, ApJ. Let

An Algorithm for the Simulations of the Magnetized Neutron Star Cooling

The model and algorithm for the cooling of the magnetized neutron stars are presented. The cooling evolution described by system of parabolic partial differential equations with non-linear coefficients is solved using Alternating Direction Implicit method. The difference scheme and the preliminary results of simulations are presented.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, accepted to the European Physical Journal Web of Conferences as a contribution of the International Conference Mathematical Modeling and Computational Physics 2015 (High Tatra Mountains, Slovakia, July 13 - July 17, 2015, http://web.tuke.sk/mmcp/mmcp2015/

Nuclear structure beyond the neutron drip line: the lowest energy states in 9^9He via their T=5/2 isobaric analogs in 9^9Li

The level structure of the very neutron rich and unbound $^9$He nucleus has been the subject of significant experimental and theoretical study. Many recent works have claimed that the two lowest energy $^9$He states exist with spins $J^\pi=1/2^+$ and $J^\pi=1/2^-$ and widths on the order of hundreds of keV. These findings cannot be reconciled with our contemporary understanding of nuclear structure. The present work is the first high-resolution study with low statistical uncertainty of the relevant excitation energy range in the $^8$He$+n$ system, performed via a search for the T=5/2 isobaric analog states in $^9$Li populated through $^8$He+p elastic scattering. The present data show no indication of any narrow structures. Instead, we find evidence for a broad $J^{\pi}=1/2^+$ state in $^9$He located approximately 3 MeV above the neutron decay threshold

Enhanced Production of Neutron-Rich Rare Isotopes in Peripheral Collisions at Fermi Energies

A large enhancement in the production of neutron-rich projectile residues is observed in the reactions of a 25 MeV/nucleon 86Kr beam with the neutron rich 124Sn and 64Ni targets relative to the predictions of the EPAX parametrization of high-energy fragmentation, as well as relative to the reaction with the less neutron-rich 112Sn target. The data demonstrate the significant effect of the target neutron-to-proton ratio (N/Z) in peripheral collisions at Fermi energies. A hybrid model based on a deep-inelastic transfer code (DIT) followed by a statistical de-excitation code appears to account for part of the observed large cross sections. The DIT simulation indicates that the production of the neutron-rich nuclides in these reactions is associated with peripheral nucleon exchange. In such peripheral encounters, the neutron skins of the neutron-rich 124Sn and 64Ni target nuclei may play an important role. From a practical viewpoint, such reactions between massive neutron-rich nuclei offer a novel and attractive synthetic avenue to access extremely neutron-rich rare isotopes towards the neutron-drip line.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Population clustering as a signal for deconfinement in accreting compact stars

We study the evolution of the rotation frequency for accreting compact stars. The discontinuous change of the moment of inertia of a rapidly rotating star due to the possible quark core appearance entails a characteristic change in the spin evolution. Numerical solutions have been performed using a model equation of state describing the deconfinement phase transition. Trajectories of spin evolution are discussed in the angular velocity - baryon number plane (phase diagram) for different accretion scenarios defined by the initial values of mass and magnetic field of the star, as well as mass accretion rate and magnetic field decay time. We observe a characteristic increase in the waiting time when a configuration enters the quark core regime. Overclustering of the population of Z sources of LMXBs in the phase diagram is suggested as a direct measurement of the critical line for the deconfinement phase transition since it is related to the behaviour of the moment of inertia of the compact star.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, uses aastex.cls (included), text and figures revised, references update

Lattice QCD Constraints on Hybrid and Quark Stars

A QCD-motivated dynamical-quasiparticle model with parameters adjusted to reproduce the lattice-QCD equation of state is extrapolated from region of high temperatures and moderate baryonic densities to the domain of high baryonic densities and zero temperature. The resulting equation of state matched with realistic hadronic equations of state predicts a phase transition into the quark phase at higher densities than those reachable in neutron star interiors. This excludes the possibility of the existence of hybrid (hadron-quark) stars. Pure quark stars are possible and have low masses, small radii and very high central densities. Similar results are obtained for a simple bag model with massive quarks, fitted to reproduce the same lattice results. Self-bound quark matter is also excluded within these models. Uncertainties in the present extrapolation re discussed. Comparison with standard bag models is made.Comment: 13 p., 8 figs., 7 tables, Version accepted by Phys. Rev.

Radiative decay branching ratio of the Hoyle state

The triple-alpha process is a vital reaction in nuclear astrophysics, characterized by two consecutive reactions ($2\alpha\leftrightarrows{^{8}\rm{Be}}(\alpha,\gamma){^{12}\rm{C}}$) that drive carbon formation. The second reaction occurs through the Hoyle state, a 7.65 MeV excited state in ${^{12}\rm{C}}$ with $J^{\pi}=0^{+}$.The rate of the process depends on the radiative width, which can be determined by measuring the branching ratio for electromagnetic decay. Recent measurements by Kib\'edi, \textit{et al.} conflicted with the adopted value and resulted in a significant increase of nearly 50\% in this branching ratio, directly affecting the triple-alpha reaction. This work aims to utilize charged-particle spectroscopy with magnetic selection as a means to accurately measure the total radiative branching ratio ($\Gamma_{\rm{rad}}/\Gamma$) of the Hoyle state in $^{12}{\rm C}$. The Hoyle state in $^{12}{\rm C}$ was populated via $^{12}\rm{C}(\alpha, \alpha')^{12}\rm{C^{*}}$ inelastic scattering. The scattered $\alpha$-particles were detected using a $\Delta$E-E telescope, while the recoiled $^{12}{\rm C}$ ions were identified in a magnetic spectrometer. A radiative branching ratio value of $\Gamma_{\rm{rad}}/\Gamma\times10^{4}=4.0\pm0.3({\rm stat.})\pm0.16({\rm syst.})$ was obtained. The radiative branching ratio for the Hoyle state obtained in this work is in agreement with the original adopted value. Our result suggests that the proton-$\gamma$-$\gamma$ spectroscopy result reported by Kib\'edi \textit{et al.} may be excluded