Related papers: Neutron Star Formation and Birth Properties
The formation of stars is a key process in astrophysics. Detailed knowledge of the physical mechanisms that govern stellar birth is a prerequisite for understanding the formation and evolution of our galactic home, the Milky Way. A theory…
Models of thermal emission of neutron stars, presumably formed in their atmospheres, are needed to infer the surface temperatures, magnetic fields, chemical composition, and neutron star masses and radii from the observational data. This…
Interaction with possible fallback material, along with the magnetic fields and rotation rates at birth should determine the fates and categories of young neutron stars. This paper addresses some issues related to pure or hybrid accretion…
The evolution of the magnetic field is investigated for isolated as well as binary neutron stars. The overall nature of the field evolution is seen to be similar for an initial crustal field and an expelled flux. The major uncertainties of…
The prescient remark by Baade and Zwicky that supernovae beget neutron stars did little to prepare us for the remarkable variety of observational manifestations such objects display. Indeed, during the first thirty years of the empirical…
The properties of the extremely strong magnetic fields of neutron stars affect in a unique way their evolution and the associated phenomenology. Due to the lack of constraints from direct observations, our understanding of the magnetic…
Current observations of double neutron stars provide us with a wealth of information that we can use to investigate their evolutionary history and the physical conditions of neutron star formation. Understanding this history and formation…
We find constraints on minimum and maximum mass of ordinary neutron stars imposed by their early evolution (protoneutron star stage). We calculate models of protoneutron stars using a realistic standard equation of state of hot, dense…
We explore the unique and fascinating structure of neutron stars. Although neutron stars are of interest in many areas of Physics, our aim is to provide an intellectual bridge between Nuclear Physics and Astrophysics. We argue against the…
Constraints on minimum and maximum mass of ordinary neutron stars are imposed by the consideration of their early evolution (protoneutron star stage). Calculations are performed for a realistic standard model of hot, dense matter (Lattimer…
I describe the current state of our knowledge of the mapping between the initial masses of stars and the compact objects -- particularly neutron stars and black holes -- that they produce. Most of that knowledge is theoretical in nature,…
Neutron stars have long been regarded as extra-terrestrial laboratories from which we can learn about extreme energy density matter at low temperatures. In this article, I highlight some of the recent advances made in astrophysical…
The stability properties of newly born neutron stars, or proto--neutron stars, are considered. We take into account dissipative processes, such as neutrino transport and viscosity, in the presence of a magnetic field. In order to find the…
In this lecture, we give a first introduction to neutron stars, based on fundamental physical principles. After outlining their outstanding macroscopic properties, as obtained from observations, we infer the extreme conditions of matter in…
The magnetic fields of neutron stars have a large range (~3e10 - 1e15 G). There may be a tendency for more highly magnetized neutron stars to come from more massive stellar progenitors, but other factors must also play a role. When combined…
Ever since the discovery of neutron stars it has been realized that they serve as probes of a physical regime that cannot be accessed in laboratories: strongly degenerate matter at several times nuclear saturation density. Existing nuclear…
Possible origins of the magnetic fields of neutron stars include inheritance from the main sequence progenitor and dynamo action at some stage of evolution of progenitor. Inheritance is not sufficient to explain the fields of magnetars.…
I summarize some constraints on the physics of neutron stars arising from X-ray observations of the surfaces of neutron stars, focusing on using models of low-magnetic-field neutron star atmospheres to interpret their X-ray spectra. I…
Our current understanding of the physical processes of star formation is reviewed, with emphasis on processes occurring in molecular clouds like those observed nearby. The dense cores of these clouds are predicted to undergo gravitational…
Isolated neutron stars show a diversity in timing and spectral properties, which has historically led to a classification in different sub-classes. The magnetic field plays a key role in many aspects of the neutron star phenomenology: it…