Related papers: Hydrogen Burning on Magnetar Surfaces
We calculate the rate of hydrogen burning for neutron stars (NSs) with hydrogen atmospheres and an underlying reservoir of nuclei capable of proton capture. This burning occurs in the exponentially suppressed diffusive tail of H that…
The outermost layers of some neutron stars are likely to be dominated by hydrogen, as a result of fast gravitational settling of heavier elements. These layers directly mediate thermal radiation from the stars, and determine the…
Neutron stars in mass-transferring binaries are accreting the hydrogen and helium rich matter from the surfaces of their companions. This article simply explains the physics associated with how that material eventually fuses to form heavier…
The persistent thermal luminosity of magnetars and their outbursts suggest the existence of some internal heat sources located in their outer crust. The compression of matter accompanying the decay of the magnetic field may trigger…
We examine four candidate mechanisms that could explain the high surface temperatures of magnetars. (1) Heat flux from the liquid core heated by ambipolar diffusion. It could sustain the observed surface luminosity $L_s\approx 10^{35}$…
Slow dissipation of non-potential magnetic fields in the magnetosphere of the magnetar is assumed to accelerate particles to hundreds MeV along the magnetic field lines. We consider interaction of fast particles with the surface of the…
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…
A small subset of thermonuclear X-ray bursts on neutron stars exhibit such a strong photospheric expansion that for a few seconds the photosphere is located at a radius r_ph >~ 1000 km. Such `superexpansions' imply a large and rapid energy…
Recent experimental results about the formation of molecular hydrogen on astrophysically relevant surfaces under conditions close to those encountered in the interstellar medium are analyzed using rate equations. The parameters of the rate…
We study thermal structure and evolution of magnetars as cooling neutron stars with a phenomenological heat source in a spherical internal layer. We explore the location of this layer as well as the heating rate that could explain high…
We present a new mode of hydrogen burning on neutron stars (NSs) called diffusive nuclear burning (DNB). In DNB, the burning occurs in the exponentially suppressed tail of hydrogen that extends to the hotter regions of the envelope where…
Thermal emission from the surface of an ultramagnetic neutron star is believed to contribute significantly to the soft X-ray flux of the Anomalous X-ray Pulsars. We compare the detailed predictions of models of the surface emission from a…
We study the thermal structure and evolution of magnetars as cooling neutron stars with a phenomenological heat source in an internal layer. We focus on the effect of magnetized (B > 10^{14} G) non-accreted and accreted outermost envelopes…
We extend our initial study of diffusive nuclear burning (DNB) for neutron stars (NSs) with Hydrogen atmospheres and an underlying layer of proton capturing nuclei. Our initial study showed that DNB can alter the photospheric abundance of…
Diffusive nuclear burning of H by an underlying material capable of capturing protons can readily consume H from the surface of neutron stars (NSs) during their early cooling history. In the absence of subsequent accretion, it will be…
Superbursts are rare day-long Type I X-ray bursts due to carbon flashes on accreting neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binaries. They heat the neutron star envelope such that the burning of accreted hydrogen and helium becomes stable, and the…
Superflares on the solar type stars observed by \textit{Kepler} demonstrate the contrast in the optical continuum of the order 0.1--1 per cent. The mechanism of formation of this radiation is not firmly established. We consider a model…
We investigate the properties of mixed H/He flames in X-ray bursts using 2D hydrodynamic simulations. We find that as the initial hydrogen abundance of the atmosphere increases, the flame is less energetic and propagates slower. The…
We explore the hardness-intensity correlations observed in several AXPs and SGRs within the framework of a thermally emitting magnetar model. Using our detailed atmosphere models and taking into account reprocessing of the surface emission…
The hydrogen and helium accreted by X-ray bursting neutron stars is periodically consumed in runaway thermonuclear reactions that cause the entire surface to glow brightly in X-rays for a few seconds. With models of the emission, the mass…