Related papers: Heating in Magnetar Crusts from Electron Captures
Magnetic reconnection and associated heating of ions and electrons in strongly magnetised, weakly collisional plasmas are studied by means of gyrokinetic simulations. It is shown that an appreciable amount of the released magnetic energy is…
The activity of magnetars is believed to be powered by colossal magnetic energy reservoirs. We sketch an evolutionary picture in which internal field evolution in magnetars generates a twisted corona, form which energy may be released…
The X-ray afterglow that is observed following large flares on magnetars can be accurately fit by simple and quantitative theoretical models: The long term afterglow, lasting of order weeks, can be understood as thermal radiation of a…
The observation of X-rays during quiescence from transiently accreting neutron stars provides unique clues about the nature of dense matter. This, however, requires extensive modeling of the crusts and matching the results to observations.…
We investigate the magneto--elastic equilibrium of a neutron star crust and magnetic energy stored by the elastic force. The solenoidal motion driven by the Lorentz force can be controlled by the magnetic elastic force, so that conditions…
Ultracold neutral plasmas provide a useful system for studying extreme parameter regimes plasma physics in an accessible laboratory setting. The parameter space of plasma physics can be characterized in part by coupling strength and degree…
We constrain the formation rate of Galactic magnetars directly from observations. Combining spin-down rates, magnetic activity, and association with supernova remnants, we put a 2$\sigma$ limit on their Galactic formation rate at…
The internal properties of the neutron star crust can be probed by observing the epoch of thermal relaxation. After the supernova explosion, powerful neutrino emission quickly cools the stellar core, while the crust stays hot. The cooling…
Nuclear reactions occurring deep in the crust of a transiently accreting neutron star efficiently maintain the core at a temperature >5e7 K. When accretion halts, the envelope relaxes to a thermal equilibrium set by the flux from the hot…
Electron captures on nuclei play an essential role for the dynamics of several astrophysical objects. The capture rate can be derived in perturbation theory where allowed nuclear transitions (Gamow-Teller transitions) dominate, except at…
Recently launched x-ray telescopes have discovered several candidate isolated neutron stars. The thermal radiation from these objects may potentially constrain our understanding of nuclear physics in a realm inaccessible to terrestrial…
Ultramagnetized neutron stars or magnetars have been invoked to explain several astrophysical phenomena. We examine how the magnetic field of a magnetar will decay over time and how this decay affects the cooling of the object. We find that…
High Mach number collisionless shocks are found in planetary systems and supernova remnants (SNRs). Electrons are heated at these shocks to the temperature well above the Rankine-Hugoniot prediction. However processes responsible for…
Thermal and electric conductivities of relativistic degenerate electrons are calculated for the case when electrons scatter by phonons in Coulomb crystals made of spherical finite--size nuclei at densities $10^{11}$~g/cm$^3 < \rho <…
The observed correlations, between the characteristic ages and dipole surface magnetic field strengths of all pulsars, can be well explained by magnetic field decay with core temperatures of $~2\times10^{8}$ K, $\sim2\times10^{7}$ K, and…
It has been observed that hot Jupiters located within 0.08 AU of their host stars commonly display radii in excess of those expected based on models. A number of theoretical explanations for this phenomenon have been suggested, but the…
The rates of electron neutrino capture on neutron, electron anti-neutrino capture on proton, and their reverse processes are important for understanding the production of heavy elements in the supernova environment above the protoneutron…
We derive analytic approximations for the neutrino luminosities and the heat capacities of neutron stars with isothernal nucleon cores as functions of the mass and radius of stars. The neutrino luminosities are approximated for the three…
We discuss pycnonuclear burning of highly exotic atomic nuclei in deep crusts of neutron stars, at densities up to 1e13 g/cc. As an application, we consider pycnonuclear burning of matter accreted on a neutron star in a soft X-ray transient…
We have investigated some of the properties of dense sub-nuclear matter at the crustal region (both the outer crust and the inner crust region) of a magnetar. The relativistic version of Thomas-Fermi (TF) model is used in presence of strong…