Vorticity affects the stability of neutron stars
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
2009-10-31 v2 Astrophysics
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Abstract
The spin rate \Omega of neutron stars at a given temperature T is constrained by the interplay between gravitational-radiation instabilities and viscous damping. Navier-Stokes theory has been used to calculate the viscous damping timescales and produce a stability curve for r-modes in the (\Omega,T) plane. In Navier-Stokes theory, viscosity is independent of vorticity, but kinetic theory predicts a coupling of vorticity to the shear viscosity. We calculate this coupling and show that it can in principle significantly modify the stability diagram at lower temperatures. As a result, colder stars can remain stable at higher spin rates.
Cite
@article{arxiv.gr-qc/9909073,
title = {Vorticity affects the stability of neutron stars},
author = {Vahid Rezania and Roy Maartens},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:gr-qc/9909073},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
Small changes to match the version to appear in Phys. Rev. Lett