Related papers: Hydrodynamic Thermonuclear Runaways in Superbursts
We analyze the global hydrodynamic flow in the ocean of an accreting, rapidly rotating, non-magnetic neutron star in an LMXB during a type I X-ray burst. Our analysis takes into account the rapid rotation of the star and the lift-up of the…
The strong degeneracy of the 12C ignition layer on an accreting neutron star results in a hydrodynamic thermonuclear runaway, in which the nuclear heating time becomes shorter than the local dynamical time. We model the resulting combustion…
Superbursts are very energetic Type I X-ray bursts discovered in recent years by long term monitoring of X-ray bursters, and believed to be due to unstable ignition of carbon in the deep ocean of the neutron star. In this Letter, we follow…
Many astrophysical explosions, such as type Ia supernovae, classical novae, and X-ray bursts, are dominated by thermonuclear runaway. To model these processes accurately, one must evolve nuclear reactions concurrently with hydrodynamics. We…
Runaway thermonuclear burning of a layer of accumulated fuel on the surface of a compact star provides a brief but intense display of stellar nuclear processes. For neutron stars accreting from a binary companion, these events manifest as…
We study the transition to runaway expansion of an initially stalled core-collapse supernova shock. The neutrino luminosity, mass accretion rate, and neutrinospheric radius are all treated as free parameters. In spherical symmetry, this…
X-ray bursts are the thermonuclear runaway of a mixed H/He layer on the surface of a neutron star. Observations suggest that the burning begins locally and spreads across the surface of the star as a flame. Recent multidimensional work has…
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…
In many X-ray point sources on the sky, the X-ray emission arises because hydrogen and/or helium is accreted onto a neutron star from a nearby donor star. When this matter settles on the neutron star surface, it will undergo nuclear fusion.…
Type-I X-ray bursts arise from unstable thermonuclear burning of accreted fuel on the surface of neutron stars. In this chapter we review the fundamental physics of the burning processes, and summarise the observational, numerical, and…
The study of transiently accreting neutron stars provides a powerful means to elucidate the properties of neutron star crusts. We present extensive numerical simulations of the evolution of the neutron star in the transient low-mass X-ray…
We present the first vertically resolved hydrodynamic simulations of a laterally propagating, deflagrating flame in the thin helium ocean of a rotating accreting neutron star. We use a new hydrodynamics solver tailored to deal with the…
Hydrogen and helium accreted onto a neutron star undergo thermonuclear burning. Explosive burning is observed as a type I X-ray burst. We describe the different burning regimes and focus on some of the current inconsistencies between theory…
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…
Recently we have made measurements of thermonuclear burst energetics and recurrence times which are unprecedented in their precision, largely thanks to the sensitivity of the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer. In the "Clocked Burster", GS…
There is a wide consensus in the astrophysics community that the mechanism underlying the observed Classical Nova eruptions is a surface thermonuclear runaway. We start this short review with the main observational facts that lead to the…
Thermonuclear flashes of hydrogen and helium accreted onto neutron stars produce the frequently observed Type I X-ray bursts. It is the current paradigm that almost all material burns in a burst, after which it takes hours to accumulate…
Neutron stars, with their strong surface gravity, have interestingly short timescales for the sedimentation of heavy elements. Recent observations of unstable thermonuclear burning (observed as X-ray bursts) on the surfaces of slowly…
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…
Superbursts were discovered at the beginning of this millennium. Just like type-I X-ray bursts, they are thought to be due to thermonuclear shell flashes on neutron stars, only igniting much deeper. With respect to type-I bursts, they last…