Phase Transitions in Nucleonic Matter and Neutron-Star Cooling
Abstract
A new scenario for neutron-star cooling is proposed, based on the correspondence between pion condensation, occurring in neutron matter due to critical spin-isospin fluctuations, and the metal-insulator phase transition in a two-dimensional electron gas. Beyond the threshold density for pion condensation, where neutron-star matter loses its spatial homogeneity, the neutron single-particle spectrum acquires an insulating gap that quenches neutron contributions to neutrino-production reactions and to the star's specific heat. In the liquid phase at densities below the transition point, spin-isospin fluctuations are found to play dual roles. On the one hand, they lead to a multi-sheeted neutron Fermi surface that extends to low momenta, thereby activating the normally forbidden direct-Urca cooling mechanism; on the other, they amplify the nodeless -wave neutron superfluid gap while suppressing -wave pairing. In this picture, lighter stars without a pion-condensed core experience slow cooling, while enhanced cooling occurs in heavier stars through direct-Urca emission from a narrow shell of the interior.
Cite
@article{arxiv.astro-ph/0402514,
title = {Phase Transitions in Nucleonic Matter and Neutron-Star Cooling},
author = {V. A. Khodel and J. W. Clark and M. Takano and M. V. Zverev},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/0402514},
year = {2008}
}
Comments
4 pages, 2 figures. Revised version. Accepted for publication in Phys.Rev.Lett