Related papers: Pycnonuclear burning and accreting neutron stars
Neutron stars in low-mass binary systems are subject to accretion. The common assumption in studying the properties of the neutron star crust is the fully accreted crust approximation. However, observations of some X-ray transient sources…
Both superbursters and soft X-ray transients probe the process of deep crustal heating in compact stars. It was recently shown that the transfer of matter from crust to core in a strange star can heat the crust and ignite superbursts…
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…
Observed thermal emission from accreting neutron stars (NSs) in a quiescent state is believed to be powered by nonequilibrium nuclear reactions that heat the stellar crust (deep crustal heating paradigm). We derive a simple universal…
We explore the thermal evolution of a neutron star undergoing episodes of intense accretion, separated by long periods of quiescence. By using an exact cooling code we follow in detail the flow of heat in the star due to the time-dependent…
We calculate the nucleosynthesis during stable nuclear burning on an accreting neutron star. This is appropriate for weakly magnetic neutron stars accreting at near-Eddington rates in low mass X-ray binaries, and for most accreting X-ray…
We present a brief, observational review about the study of the cooling behaviour of accretion-heated neutron stars and the inferences about the neutron-star crust and core that have been obtained from these studies. Accretion of matter…
We discuss the recent efforts to use a sub-class of neutron-star X-ray transients (the quasi-persistent transients) to probe the properties of neutron-star crusts and cores. Quasi-persistent X-ray transients experience accretion episodes…
Nuclear reactions heat and cool the crust of accreting neutron stars and need to be understood to interpret observations of X-ray bursts and of long-term cooling in transiently accreting systems. It was recently suggested that previously…
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…
The neutron-drip transition in the dense matter constituting the interior of neutron stars generally refers to the appearance of unbound neutrons as the matter density reaches some threshold density $\rho_\textrm{drip}$. This transition has…
We perform a self-consistent calculation of the thermal structure in the crust of a superbursting neutron star. In particular, we follow the nucleosynthetic evolution of an accreted fluid element from its deposition into the atmosphere down…
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…
Transiently accreting neutron stars in low mass X-ray binaries are generally believed to be heated up by nuclear reactions in accreted matter during hydrostatic compression. Detailed modeling of these reactions is required for the correct…
Fusion reactions in the crust of an accreting neutron star are an important source of heat, and the depth at which these reactions occur is important for determining the temperature profile of the star. Fusion reactions depend strongly on…
We present a global linear stability analysis of nuclear fuel accumulating on the surface of an accreting neutron star and we identify the conditions under which thermonuclear bursts are triggered. The analysis reproduces all the recognized…
We carry out a general-relativistic global linear stability analysis of the amassed carbon fuel on the surface of an accreting neutron star to determine the conditions under which superbursts occur. We reproduce the general observational…
We investigate the atmosphere, ocean, and crust of neutron stars accreting at rates sufficiently high (typically in excess of the local Eddington limit) to stabilize the burning of accreted hydrogen and helium. For hydrogen-rich accretion…
The monitoring of quiescent emission from neutron star transients with accretion outbursts long enough to significantly heat the neutron star crust has opened a new vista onto the physics of dense matter. In this paper we construct models…
The properties of superdense matter in neutron star (NS) cores control NS thermal states by affecting the efficiency of neutrino emission from NS interiors. To probe these properties we confront the theory of thermal evolution of NSs with…