Related papers: Internal Heating of Old Neutron Stars: Contrasting…
Context: The standard cooling models of neutron stars predict temperatures $T<10^{4}$ K for ages $t>10^{7}$ yr. However, the likely thermal emission detected from the millisecond pulsar J0437-4715, of spin-down age $t_s \sim 7\times10^9$…
Recent observations have found several candidates for old warm neutron stars whose surface temperatures are above the prediction of the standard neutron star cooling scenario, and thus require some heating mechanism. Motivated by these…
When a rotating neutron star loses angular momentum, the reduction in the centrifugal force makes it contract. This perturbs each fluid element, raising the local pressure and originating deviations from beta equilibrium that enhance the…
The impact of various competing heating processes on the thermal evolution of neutron stars is investigated. We show that internal heating leads to significantly enhanced surface temperatures for pulsars of middle and old age. The heating…
The spin-down of a neutron star, e.g. due to magneto-dipole losses, results in compression of the stellar matter and induces nuclear reactions at phase transitions between different nuclear species in the crust. We show that this mechanism…
When a rotating neutron star loses angular momentum, the progressive reduction of the centrifugal force makes it contract. This perturbs each fluid element, raising the local pressure and originating deviations from beta equilibrium,…
Rotochemical heating originates in a departure from beta equilibrium due to spin-down compression in a rotating neutron star. The main consequence is that the star eventually arrives at a quasi-equilibrium state, in which the thermal photon…
In previous papers, we have shown that, as the rotation of a neutron star slows down, it will be internally heated as a consequence of the progressively changing mix of particles (rotochemical heating). In previously studied cases…
Context: When a rotating neutron star loses angular momentum, the reduction in the centrifugal force makes it contract. This perturbs each fluid element, raising the local pressure and originating deviations from beta equilibrium that…
Passively cooling neutron stars (NSs) should reach undetectably low surface temperatures $T_s<10^4$ K in less than $10^7$ yr. However, HST observations have revealed likely thermal UV emission from the Gyr-old millisecond pulsars…
The detection of likely thermal ultraviolet emission from a few old neutron stars suggests that at least one internal heating mechanism is present in these stars. One proposed mechanism is rotochemical heating, in which the continuous…
The equilibrium composition of neutron star matter is achieved through weak interactions (direct and inverse beta decays), which proceed on relatively long time scales. If the density of a matter element is perturbed, it will relax to the…
When a rotating neutron star loses angular momentum, the reduction of the centrifugal force makes it contract. This perturbs each fluid element, raising the local pressure and originating deviations from beta equilibrium, inducing reactions…
Recent observations of old warm neutron stars suggest the presence of a heating source in these stars, requiring a paradigm beyond the standard neutron-star cooling theory. In this work, we study the scenario where this heating is caused by…
Neutron stars provide unique laboratories for probing physics of dense nuclear matter under extreme conditions. Their thermal and luminosity evolution reflects key internal properties such as the equation of state (EoS), nucleon…
We present a theoretical model for the thermal X-ray emission and cooling of isolated pulsars, assuming that pulsars are solid quark stars. We calculate the heat capacity for such a quark star, and the results show that the residual thermal…
The recent temperature measurements of the two older isolated neutron stars PSR 1929+10 and PSR 0950+08 (ages of $3\times 10^6$ and $2\times 10^7$ yr, respectively) indicate that these objects are heated. A promising candidate heat source…
Many radio pulsars exhibit glitches wherein the star's spin rate increases fractionally by $\sim 10^{-10} - 10^{-6}$. Glitches are ascribed to variable coupling between the neutron star crust and its superfluid interior. With the aim of…
The cooling of neutron stars (hereafter NS) has the potential to reveal important features of superdense matter. Their surface temperatures are known for a fair sample of NS with ages $\leq 10^{6} \, {\it{yr}}$, and with a few exceptions,…
We find a new mechanism of neutron star radiation wherein radiation is produced by the stellar interior. The source of radiation is oscillating neutron vortices in the superfluid core of a rotating neutron star. Thermally excited helical…