Gravitational radiation from pulsar glitches

The nonaxisymmetric Ekman flow excited inside a neutron star following a rotational glitch is calculated analytically including stratification and compressibility. For the largest glitches, the gravitational wave strain produced by the hydrodynamic mass quadrupole moment approaches the sensitivity range of advanced long-baseline interferometers. It is shown that the viscosity, compressibility, and orientation of the star can be inferred in principle from the width and amplitude ratios of the Fourier peaks (at the spin frequency and its first harmonic) observed in the gravitational wave spectrum in the plus and cross polarizations. These transport coefficients constrain the equation of state of bulk nuclear matter, because they depend sensitively on the degree of superfluidity.Comment: 28 page

Continuous-wave gravitational radiation from pulsar glitch recovery

Nonaxisymmetric, meridional circulation inside a neutron star, excited by a glitch and persisting throughout the post-glitch relaxation phase, emits gravitational radiation. Here, it is shown that the current quadrupole contributes more strongly to the gravitational wave signal than the mass quadrupole evaluated in previous work. We calculate the signal-to-noise ratio for a coherent search and conclude that a large glitch may be detectable by second-generation interferometers like the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory. It is shown that the viscosity and compressibility of bulk nuclear matter, as well as the stratification length-scale and inclination angle of the star, can be inferred from a gravitational wave detection in principle.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Gravitational-wave spin-down and stalling lower limits on the electrical resistivity of the accreted mountain in a millisecond pulsar

The electrical resistivity of the accreted mountain in a millisecond pulsar is limited by the observed spin-down rate of binary radio millisecond pulsars (BRMSPs) and the spins and X-ray fluxes of accreting millisecond pulsars (AMSPs). We find $\eta \ge 10^{-28}\,\mathrm{s}\, (\tau_\mathrm{SD}/1\,\mathrm{Gyr})^{-0.8}$ (where $\tau_\mathrm{SD}$ is the spin-down age) for BRMSPs and $\eta \ge 10^{-25}\,\mathrm{s}\,(\dot{M}_\mathrm{a}/\dot{M}_\mathrm{E})^{0.6}$ (where $\dot{M}_\mathrm{a}$ and $\dot{M}_\mathrm{E}$ are the actual and Eddington accretion rates) for AMSPs. These limits are inferred assuming that the mountain attains a steady state, where matter diffuses resistively across magnetic flux surfaces but is replenished at an equal rate by infalling material. The mountain then relaxes further resistively after accretion ceases. The BRMSP spin-down limit approaches the theoretical electron-impurity resistivity at temperatures \ga 10^5 K for an impurity concentration of $\sim 0.1$, while the AMSP stalling limit falls two orders of magnitude below the theoretical electron-phonon resistivity for temperatures above $10^8$ K. Hence BRMSP observations are already challenging theoretical resistivity calculations in a useful way. Next-generation gravitational-wave interferometers will constrain $\eta$ at a level that will be competitive with electromagnetic observations.Comment: accepted for publication in ApJ

The effect of realistic equations of state and general relativity on the "snowplow" model for pulsar glitches

Many pulsars are observed to "glitch", i.e. show sudden jumps in their rotational frequency $\nu$, some of which can be as large as $\Delta \nu/\nu\approx 10^{-6}-10^{-5}$ in a subset of pulsars known as giant glitchers. Recently Pizzochero (2011) has shown that an analytic model based on realistic values for the pinning forces in the crust and for the angular momentum transfer in the star can describe the average properties of giant glitches, such as the inter-glitch waiting time, the step in frequency and that in frequency derivative. In this paper we extend the model (originally developed in Newtonian gravity and for a polytropic equation of state) to realistic backgrounds obtained by integrating the relativistic equations of stellar structure and using physically motivated equations of state to describe matter in the neutron star. We find that this more detailed treatment still reproduces the main features of giant glitches in the Vela pulsar and allows us to set constraints on the equation of state. In particular we find that stiffer equations of state are favoured and that it is unlikely that the Vela pulsar has a high mass (larger than $M\approx 1.5 M_\odot$).Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures, submitted to MNRA

A study of 315 glitches in the rotation of 102 pulsars

The rotation of more than 700 pulsars has been monitored using the 76-m Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank. Here we report on a new search for glitches in the observations, revealing 128 new glitches in the rotation of 63 pulsars. Combining these new data with those already published we present a database containing 315 glitches in 102 pulsars. The database was used to study the glitch activity among the pulsar population, finding that it peaks for pulsars with a characteristic age tau_c ~ 10kyr and decreases for longer values of tau_c, disappearing for objects with tau_c > 20Myr. The glitch activity is also smaller in the very young pulsars (tau_c <~ 1kyr). The cumulative effect of glitches, a collection of instantaneous spin up events, acts to reduce the regular long term spindown rate |nudot| of the star. The percentage of |nudot| reversed by glitch activity was found to vary between 0.5% and 1.6% for pulsars with spindown rates |nudot| between 10^(-14) and 3.2*10^(-11) Hz/s, decreasing to less than 0.01% at both higher and lower spindown rates. These ratios are interpreted in terms of the amount of superfluid involved in the generation of glitches. In this context the activity of the youngest pulsar studied, the Crab pulsar, may be explained by quake-like activity within the crust. Pulsars with low spindown rates seem to exhibit mostly small glitches, matching well the decrease of their crustal superfluid. Through the analysis of glitch sizes it was found that the particular glitching behaviour of PSR J0537-6910 and the Vela pulsar may be shared by most Vela-like pulsars. These objects present most of their glitches with characteristic frequency and frequency derivative jumps, occurring at regular intervals of time. Their behaviour is different from other glitching pulsars of similar characteristic age.Comment: 26 pages, 17 figures, 6 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRA

Gravitational waves from single neutron stars: an advanced detector era survey

With the doors beginning to swing open on the new gravitational wave astronomy, this review provides an up-to-date survey of the most important physical mechanisms that could lead to emission of potentially detectable gravitational radiation from isolated and accreting neutron stars. In particular we discuss the gravitational wave-driven instability and asteroseismology formalism of the f- and r-modes, the different ways that a neutron star could form and sustain a non-axisymmetric quadrupolar "mountain" deformation, the excitation of oscillations during magnetar flares and the possible gravitational wave signature of pulsar glitches. We focus on progress made in the recent years in each topic, make a fresh assessment of the gravitational wave detectability of each mechanism and, finally, highlight key problems and desiderata for future work.Comment: 39 pages, 12 figures, 2 tables. Chapter of the book "Physics and Astrophysics of Neutron Stars", NewCompStar COST Action 1304. Minor corrections to match published versio

Magnetic Field Generation in Stars

Enormous progress has been made on observing stellar magnetism in stars from the main sequence through to compact objects. Recent data have thrown into sharper relief the vexed question of the origin of stellar magnetic fields, which remains one of the main unanswered questions in astrophysics. In this chapter we review recent work in this area of research. In particular, we look at the fossil field hypothesis which links magnetism in compact stars to magnetism in main sequence and pre-main sequence stars and we consider why its feasibility has now been questioned particularly in the context of highly magnetic white dwarfs. We also review the fossil versus dynamo debate in the context of neutron stars and the roles played by key physical processes such as buoyancy, helicity, and superfluid turbulence,in the generation and stability of neutron star fields. Independent information on the internal magnetic field of neutron stars will come from future gravitational wave detections. Thus we maybe at the dawn of a new era of exciting discoveries in compact star magnetism driven by the opening of a new, non-electromagnetic observational window. We also review recent advances in the theory and computation of magnetohydrodynamic turbulence as it applies to stellar magnetism and dynamo theory. These advances offer insight into the action of stellar dynamos as well as processes whichcontrol the diffusive magnetic flux transport in stars.Comment: 41 pages, 7 figures. Invited review chapter on on magnetic field generation in stars to appear in Space Science Reviews, Springe

The STRESS-NL database: A resource for human acute stress studies across the Netherlands

Stress initiates a cascade of (neuro)biological, physiological, and behavioral changes, allowing us to respond to a challenging environment. The human response to acute stress can be studied in detail in controlled settings, usually in a laboratory environment. To this end, many studies employ acute stress paradigms to probe stress-related outcomes in healthy and patient populations. Though valuable, these studies in themselves often have relatively limited sample sizes. We established a data-sharing and collaborative interdisciplinary initiative, the STRESS-NL database, which combines (neuro)biological, physiological, and behavioral data across many acute stress studies in order to accelerate our understanding of the human acute stress response in health and disease (www.stressdatabase.eu). Researchers in the stress field from 12 Dutch research groups of 6 Dutch universities created a database to achieve an accurate inventory of (neuro)biological, physiological, and behavioral data from laboratory-based human studies that used acute stress tests. Currently, the STRESS-NL database consists of information on 5529 individual participants (2281 females and 3348 males, age range 6-99 years, mean age 27.7 ± 16 years) stemming from 57 experiments described in 42 independent studies. Studies often did not use the same stress paradigm; outcomes were different and measured at different time points. All studies currently included in the database assessed cortisol levels before, during and after experimental stress, but cortisol measurement will not be a strict requirement for future study inclusion. Here, we report on the creation of the STRESS-NL database and infrastructure to illustrate the potential of accumulating and combining existing data to allow meta-analytical, proof-of-principle analyses. The STRESS-NL database creates a framework that enables human stress research to take new avenues in explorative and hypothesis-driven data analyses with high statistical power. Future steps could be to incorporate new studies beyond the borders of the Netherlands; or build similar databases for experimental stress studies in rodents. In our view, there are major scientific benefits in initiating and maintaining such international efforts

Modelling pulsar glitches with realistic pinning forces: a hydrodynamical approach

Although pulsars are one of the most stable clocks in the universe, many of them are observed to 'glitch', i.e. to suddenly increase their spin frequency (\nu) with fractional increases that range from \Delta\nu/\nu \approx 10^{-11} to 10^{-5}. In this paper we focus on the 'giant' glitches, i.e. glitches with fractional increases in the spin rate of the order of \Delta\nu/{\nu} \approx 10^{-6}, that are observed in a sub class of pulsars including the Vela. We show that giant glitches can be modelled with a two-fluid hydrodynamical approach. The model is based on the formalism for superfluid neutron stars of Andersson and Comer (2006) and on the realistic pinning forces of Grill and Pizzochero (2011). We show that all stages of Vela glitches, from the rise to the post-glitch relaxation, can be reproduced with a set of physically reasonable parameters and that the sizes and waiting times between giant glitches in other pulsars are also consistent with our model.Comment: submitted to MNRA