Related papers: Compositional Freeze-Out of Neutron Star Crusts
X-ray observations of transiently accreting neutron stars during quiescence provide information about the structure of neutron star crusts and the properties of dense matter. Interpretation of the observational data requires an…
Correct interpretation of X-ray observations of transiently accreting neutron stars requires modeling of nuclear-physical processes in these objects. We consider a chain of nuclear reactions that drives the crust composition in an accreting…
Now 50 years since the existence of the neutron star crust was proposed, we review the current understanding of the nuclear physics of the outer layers of accreting neutron stars. Nuclei produced during nuclear burning replace the nascent…
We are investigating mass fractions on the crust of a neutron star which would remain after one year of cooling. We use cooling curves corresponding with various densities, or depths, of the neutron star just after its formation. We assume…
A very fast iterative method is presented to calculate the internal constitution of the outer crust of a cold nonaccreted neutron star, making use of very accurate analytical formulas for the transition pressures between adjacent crustal…
Context. In the cooling process of a non-accreting neutron star, the composition and properties of the crust are thought to be fixed at the finite temperature where nuclear reactions fall out of equilibrium. A lower estimation for this…
The heavy element ashes of rp-process hydrogen and helium burning in accreting neutron stars are compressed to high density where they freeze, forming the outer crust of the star. We calculate the chemical separation on freezing for a…
The crust of accreting neutron stars plays a central role in many different observational phenomena. In these stars, heavy elements produced by H-He burning in the rapid proton capture (rp-) process continually freeze to form new crust. In…
Some thermonuclear (type I) X-ray bursts at the neutron star surfaces in low-mass X-ray binaries take place during hard persistent states of the systems. Spectral evolution of these bursts is well described by the atmosphere model of a…
The temperature in the crust of an accreting neutron star, which comprises its outermost kilometer, is set by heating from nuclear reactions at large densities, neutrino cooling, and heat transport from the interior. The heated crust has…
Transitions of nuclear compositions in the crust of a neutron star induced by stellar spin-down are evaluated at zero temperature. We construct a compressible liquid-drop model for the energy of nuclei immersed in a neutron gas, including…
Nuclear reactions in accreting neutron-star crusts and the heat release accompanying them are studied, under different assumptions concerning the composition of the outermost layer formed of the ashes of X-ray bursts. Particular examples of…
A fully self-consistent model of the neutron star inner crust based upon models of the nucleonic equation of state at zero temperature is constructed. The results nearly match those of previous calculations of the inner crust given the same…
We model the nuclear evolution of an accreted matter as it sinks toward the stellar center, in order to find its composition and equation of state. To this aim, we developed a simplified reaction network that allows for redistribution of…
Nucleosynthesis, on the surface of accreting neutron stars, produces a range of chemical elements. We perform molecular dynamics simulations of crystallization to see how this complex composition forms new neutron star crust. We find…
Observation of cooling neutron stars can potentially provide information about the states of matter at supernuclear densities. We review physical properties important for cooling such as neutrino emission processes and superfluidity in the…
The formation of the chemical composition of neutron star envelopes, at high densities is considered. As hot matter is compressed in the process of collapse, which leads to the explosion of a core collapse supernova, the stage of nuclear…
The properties and composition of the outer crust of nonaccreting cold neutron stars are studied by applying the model of Baym, Pethick, and Sutherland, which was extended by including higher order corrections of the atomic binding,…
Neutron stars cooling after sustained accretion outbursts provide unique information about the neutron star crust and underlying dense matter. Comparisons between astronomical observations of these cooling transients and model calculations…
We investigate nuclear reactions and feedback in hyperaccreting neutron star environments, considering accretion rates in the range 0.3 - $3\times10^4$ $M_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$, typical of short-period compact object binaries in common…