Related papers: From supernovae to neutron stars: crust formation …
The main stages in the evolution of a neutron star, from its birth as a proto-neutron star, to its old age as a cold, catalyzed configuration, are described. A proto-neutron star is formed in the aftermath of a successful supernova…
The interior of a neutron star (NS) is usually assumed to be made of cold catalyzed matter. However, the outer layers are unlikely to remain in full equilibrium during the formation of the star and its cooling, especially after…
The crust of a neutron star is known to melt at a temperature that increases with increasing matter density, up to about $10^{10}$ K. At such high temperatures and beyond, the crustal ions are put into collective motion and the associated…
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…
We consider, in general terms, the early thermal evolution of an isolated neutron star, i.e., during the first $10^5$ years after the supernova explosion when the cooling is driven by neutrino emission from the core. It is shown that, if…
A proto-neutron star (PNS) is a newly formed compact object in a core collapse supernova. In this Letter, the neutrino emission from the cooling process of a PNS is investigated using two types of nuclear equation of state (EOS). It is…
Neutron stars are formed in core-collapse supernova explosions, where a large number of neutrinos are emitted. In this paper, supernova neutrino light curves are computed for the cooling phase of protoneutron stars, which lasts a few…
After a successful core collapse supernova (CCSN) explosion, a hot dense proto-neutron star (PNS) is left as a remnant. Over a time of twenty or so seconds, this PNS emits the majority of the neutrinos that come from the CCSN, contracts,…
We investigate nuclear pasta phases appearing in hot neutron-star matter based on the compressible liquid-drop model, where the matter consists of a dense liquid phase and a dilute gas phase separated by a sharp interface. The surface…
The neutron star starts to cool down shortly after its birth by emitting neutrinos. As it becomes cold enough, the Cooper pairs of neutrons are formed, triggering a superfluid transition. Previous studies on neutron superfluidity focused on…
The rapid neutron-capture process, or r-process, is known to be fundamental for explaining the origin of approximately half of the A>60 stable nuclei observed in nature. In recent years nuclear astrophysicists have developed more and more…
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…
Proto-neutron stars (PNS) are born hot, with temperatures exceeding a few times $10^{10}$ K. In these conditions, the PNS crust is expected to be made of a Coulomb liquid composed of an ensemble of different nuclear species. We perform a…
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…
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…
The possible presence of amorphous and heterogeneous phases in the inner crust of a neutron star is expected to reduce the electrical conductivity of the crust, with potentially important consequences on the magneto-thermal evolution of the…
We analyse the effect of neutron superfluidity on the cooling time of inner crust matter in neutron stars, in the case of a rapid cooling of the core. The specific heat of the inner crust, which determines the thermal response of the crust,…
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…
As mature neutron stars are cold (on the relevant temperature scale), one has to carefully consider the state of matter in their interior. The outer kilometer or so is expected to freeze to form an elastic crust of increasingly neutron-rich…
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…