Possible evidence of quark matter in neutron star X-ray binaries
Abstract
We study the spin evolution of X-ray neutron stars in binary systems, which are being spun up by mass transfer from accretion disks. Our investigation reveals that a quark phase transition resulting from the changing central density induced by the changing spin, can lead to a pronounced peak in the frequency distribution of X-ray neutron stars. This finding provides one of several possible explanations available in the literature, or at least a contributor to part of the observed anomalous frequency distribution of neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs), which lie in a narrow band centered at about 300 Hz, as found by the Rossi Explorer (RXTE).
Cite
@article{arxiv.astro-ph/0003426,
title = {Possible evidence of quark matter in neutron star X-ray binaries},
author = {Norman K. Glendenning and F. Weber},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/0003426},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
4 pages (latex) 3 figures. Figure of calculated distribution of x-ray neutron stars as a function of frequency is included