Core-crust transition and crustal fraction of moment of inertia in neutron stars
Debasis Atta, Somnath Mukhopadhyay, D. N. Basu
备注：
6 pages including 2 figures and 3 tables; Calculations are made more accurate by using very accurate values of Solar mass, erg to MeV conversion factor, pi and gravitational constant G. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1406.5302; text overlap with arXiv:hep-ph/0009357, arXiv:hep-ph/0011333, arXiv:hep-ph/0109135, arXiv:hep-ph/0102047 by other authors
The crustal fraction of moment of inertia in neutron stars is calculated using $β$-equilibrated nuclear matter obtained from density dependent M3Y effective interaction. The transition density, pressure and proton fraction at the inner edge separating the liquid core from the solid crust of the neutron stars determined from the thermodynamic stability conditions are found to be $ρ_t=$ 0.0938 fm$^{-3}$, P$_t=$ 0.5006 MeV fm$^{-3}$ and $x_{p(t)}=$ 0.0308, respectively. The crustal fraction of the moment of inertia can be extracted from studying pulsar glitches and is most sensitive to the pressure as well as density at the transition from the crust to the core. These results for pressure and density at core-crust transition together with the observed minimum crustal fraction of the total moment of inertia provide a new limit for the radius of the Vela pulsar: $R \geq 4.10 + 3.36 M/M_\odot$ kms.
The mass, radius and crustal fraction of moment of inertia in neutron stars are calculated using $β$-equilibrated nuclear matter obtained from Skyrme effective interaction. The transition density, pressure and proton fraction at the inner edge separating the liquid core from the solid crust of the neutron stars are determined from the thermodynamic stability conditions using the KDE0v1 set. The neutron star masses obtained by solving the Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff equations using neutron star matter obtained from this set is able to describe highly massive compact stars $\sim$2$M_{\odot}$. The…
Crustal torsional oscillations depend on not only crust properties but also the stellar mass and radius. Thus, one could extract stellar information by identifying the observed frequencies of stellar oscillations with the crustal torsional oscillations. Owing to the confinement of torsional oscillations inside the crust region of neutron stars, we successfully derive an empirical formula for the fundamental crustal torsional oscillations as a function of the stellar mass, radius, the so-called slope parameter of the nuclear symmetry energy, and the angular index of oscillations, with which one…
We have investigated some of the properties of dense sub-nuclear matter at the crustal region (both the outer crust and the inner crust region) of a magnetar. The relativistic version of Thomas-Fermi (TF) model is used in presence of strong quantizing magnetic field for the outer crust matter. The compressed matter in the outer crust, which is a crystal of metallic iron, is replaced by a regular array of spherically symmetric Wigner-Seitz (WS) cells. In the inner crust region, a mixture of iron and heavier neutron rich nuclei along with electrons and free neutrons has been considered. Conventi…
A quasi-statistical equilibrium model is constructed to simulate the multicomponent composition of the crust of an accreting neutron star. The ashes of rp-process nucleosynthesis are driven by accretion through a series of electron captures, neutron emissions, and pycnonuclear fusions up to densities near the transition between the neutron star crust and core. A liquid droplet model which includes nuclear shell effects is used to provide nuclear masses far from stability. Reaction pathways are determined consistently with the nuclear mass model. The nuclear symmetry energy is an important unce…
The neutron star crustal EoS and transition point properties are computed within a unified meta-modeling approach. A Bayesian approach is employed including two types of filters: bulk nuclear properties are controlled from low density effective field theory (EFT) predictions as well as the present knowledge from nuclear experiments, while the surface energy is adjusted on experimental nuclear masses. Considering these constraints, a quantitative prediction of crustal properties can be reached with controlled confidence intervals and increased precision with respect to previous calculations: {$…
The deep crustal heating, associated with exothermal nuclear reactions, is believed to be a key parameter for describing the thermal evolution of accreting neutron stars. In this paper, we present the first thermodynamically consistent calculations of the crustal heating for realistic compositions of thermonuclear ashes. In contrast to previous studies based on the traditional approach, we account for neutron hydrostatic/diffusion (nHD) equilibrium condition imposed by superfluidity of neutrons in a major part of the inner crust and rapid diffusion in the remaining part of the inner crust. We …
Neutron star crustal matter, whose properties are relevant in many models aimed at explaining observed astrophysical phenomena, has so far always been studied using a mean field approach. In order to check the results obtained in this way, a sensible next step is to make use of a realistic nuclear potential. The present paper extends the periodic-box Fermi HyperNetted Chain method to include longitudinal-isospin dependence of the correlations, making feasible a study of asymmetric crustal matter. Results are presented for the symmetry energy, the low-density neutron star equation of state and …
We present the first fully relativistic calculations of the crustal strain induced in a neutron star by a binary companion at the late stages of inspiral, employing realistic equations of state for the fluid core and the solid crust. We show that while the deep crust is likely to fail only shortly before coalescence, there is a large variation in elastic strain, with the outermost layers failing relatively early on in the inspiral. We discuss the significance of the results for both electromagnetic and gravitational-wave astronomy.
Neutron Star Core-Crust Transition and Crustal Moment of Inertia: Systematic Implications of Higher-Order Symmetry Energy in the Nuclear Equation of State
We use the effective relativistic mean-field (E-RMF) model to study the crustal properties of the neutron star. The unified equations of state (EoS) are constructed using recently developed E-RMF parameter sets, such as FSUGarnet, IOPB-I, and G3. The outer crust composition is determined using the atomic mass evaluation 2020 data [Chinese Physics C {\bf 45}, 030002 (2021)] along with the available Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov mass models [Phys. Rev. C {\bf 88}, 024308 (2013)] for neutron-rich nuclei. The structure of the inner crust is estimated by performing the compressible liquid drop model calc…
We present a new mechanism for deep crustal heating in accreting neutron stars. Charged pions ($π^+$) are produced in nuclear collisions on the neutron star surface during active accretion and upon decay they provide a flux of neutrinos into the neutron star crust. For massive and/or compact neutron stars, neutrinos deposit $\approx 1\textrm{--} 2 \, \mathrm{MeV}$ of heat per accreted nucleon into the inner crust. The strength of neutrino heating is comparable to the previously known sources of deep crustal heating, such as from pycnonuclear fusion reactions, and is relevant for studies of coo…
In order to assess the ability of purely crust-driven glitch models to match the observed glitch activity in the Vela pulsar, we conduct a systematic analysis of the dependence of the fractional moment of inertia of the inner crustal neutrons on the stiffness of the nuclear symmetry energy at saturation density $L$. We take into account both crustal entrainment and the fact that only a fraction $Y_{\rm g}$ of the core neutrons may couple to the crust on the glitch-rise timescale. We use a set of consistently-generated crust and core compositions and equations-of-state which are fit to results …
We investigate the effects of dark matter (DM) on the nuclear equation of state (EoS) and neutron star structure, in the relativistic mean field theory, both in the absence and presence of a crust. The $σ-ω$ model is modified by adding a WIMP-DM component, which interacts with nucleonic matter through the Higgs portal. This model agrees well with previous studies which utilized either a more complicated nuclear model or higher-order terms of the Higgs potential, in that DM softens the EoS, resulting in stars with lower maximum masses. However, instabilities corresponding to negative pressure v…
In the late inspiral phase, gravitational waves from binary neutron star mergers carry the imprint of the equation of state due to the tidally deformed structure of the components. If the stars contain solid crusts, then their shear modulus can affect the deformability of the star and, thereby, modify the emitted signal. Here, we investigate the effect of realistic equations of state (EOSs) of the crustal matter, with a realistic model for the shear modulus of the stellar crust in a fully general relativistic framework. This allows us to systematically study the deviations that are expected fr…
We consider how superfluidity of dripped neutrons in the crust of a neutron star affects the frequencies of the crust's fundamental torsional oscillations. A nonnegligible superfluid part of dripped neutrons, which do not comove with nuclei, act to reduce the enthalpy density and thus enhance the oscillation frequencies. By assuming that the quasi-periodic oscillations observed in giant flares of soft gamma repeaters arise from the fundamental torsional oscillations and that the mass and radius of the neutron star is in the range of 1.4 < M/M_SUN < 1.8 and 10 km < R < 14 km, we constrain the d…
The spin-down of a neutron star, e.g. due to magneto-dipole losses, results in compression of the stellar matter and induces nuclear reactions at phase transitions between different nuclear species in the crust. We show that this mechanism is effective in heating recycled pulsars, in which the previous accretion process has already been compressing the crust, so it is not in nuclear equilibrium. We calculate the corresponding emissivity and confront it with available observations, showing that it might account for the likely thermal ultraviolet emission of PSR J0437-4715.
With various sets of the parameters that characterize the equation of state (EOS) of nuclear matter, we systematically examine the thickness of a neutron star crust and of the pasta phases contained therein. Then, with respect to the thickness of the phase of spherical nuclei, the thickness of the cylindrical phase, and the crust thickness, we successfully derive fitting formulas that express the ratio of each thickness to the star's radius as a function of the star's compactness, the incompressibility of symmetric nuclear matter, and the density dependence of the symmetry energy. In particula…
We calculate crustal properties of neutron stars, namely, mass ($M_{\rm crust}$), radius ($R_{\rm crust}$) and fraction of moment of inertia ($ΔI/I$) from parametrizations of hadronic relativistic mean-field (RMF) model consistent with symmetric and asymmetric nuclear matter constraints, as well as some stellar boundaries. We verify which one are also in agreement with restrictions of $ΔI/I \geqslant 1.4\%$ and $ΔI/I \geqslant 7\%$ related to the glitching mechanism observed in pulsars, such as the Vela one. The latter constraint explains the glitches phenomenon when entrainment effects are ta…
Following an extremely interesting idea \cite{R1}, published long ago, the work function at the outer crust region of a strongly magnetized neutron star is obtained using relativistic version of Thomas-Fermi type model. In the present scenario, the work function becomes anisotropic; the longitudinal part is an increasing function of magnetic field strength, whereas the transverse part diverges. An approximate estimate of the electron density in the magnetosphere due to field emission and photo emission current, from the polar cap region are obtained.
I construct a model of the inner crust of neutron stars using interactions from chiral effective field theory (EFT) in order to calculate its equation of state (EOS), shear properties, and the spectrum of crustal shear modes. I systematically study uncertainties associated with the nuclear physics input, the crust composition, and neutron entrainment, and estimate their impact on crustal shear properties and the shear-mode spectrum. I find that the uncertainties originate mainly in two sources: The neutron-matter EOS and neutron entrainment. I compare the spectrum of crustal shear modes to obs…
With the inclusion of the isovector scalar channel in the meson-nucleon couplings, taking DD-ME$δ$ as an effective interaction, the moments of inertia of neutron stars possessing various stellar masses are studied within the density dependent relativistic mean field (RMF) theory. The isovector scalar channel contributes to the softening of the neutron-star matter equation of state (EOS) and therefore the reduction of the maximum mass and radius of neutron stars. Smaller values of the total moment of inertia $I$ and the crustal moment of inertia $Δ{I}$ are then obtained in DD-ME$δ$ via numerica…
Pulsar glitches-the sudden spin-up in the rotational frequency of a neutron star-suggest the existence of an angular-momentum reservoir confined to the inner crust of the neutron star. Large and regular glitches observed in the Vela pulsar have originally constrained the fraction of the stellar moment of inertia that must reside in the solid crust to about 1.4%. However, crustal entrainment-which until very recently has been ignored-suggests that in order to account for the Vela glitches, the fraction of the moment of inertia residing in the crust must increase to about 7%. This indicates that…
Estimation of neutron star mass and radius of FRB 20240114A by identification of crustal oscillations
Kochi University（高知大学）；RIKEN Center for Interdisciplinary Theoretical and Mathematical Sciences (iTHEMS), RIKEN（理化学研究所交叉理论数学科学中心（iTHEMS））；University of Tübingen（蒂宾根大学）；University of Maryland, College Park（马里兰大学帕克分校）；NASA Goddard Space Flight Center（美国国家航空航天局戈达德太空飞行中心）
Spin-Down of Neutron Stars and Compositional Transitions in the Cold Crustal Matter
本文研究了零温下恒星自旋下降引起的中子星壳核成分的变化。我们建立了一个可压缩的液滴模型的能量的原子核浸没在中子气体中，包括配对和壳修正项，在参考的已知属性的基态的物质以上的中子滴密度，$4.3 \times 10^{11} g cm^{-3}$。最近的实验值和核质量的外推用于描述密度低于中子滴的物质。考虑到缓慢均匀旋转的相对论性中子星的壳层结构，计算了由于恒星自旋下降引起的壳层物质压力的变化。如果初始旋转周期为$\sim$ ms，这些变化会导致最初处于质量密度约为$3 \times 10^{13} g cm^{-3}$的基态物质中的原子核在物质经历压缩的赤道区域吸收中子，并在物质经历减压的旋转轴附近发射中子。通过这些过程产生的热量被发现有显着的影响，旧的中子星的热演化与低磁场的表面发射预测从这种加热相比，$ROSAT$观测的X射线发射毫秒双星，并被证明是不足以解释所观察到的X射线光度。
Detailed structures of the Vela pulsar (PSR B0833-45, with a period of $89.33$ milliseconds) are predicted by adopting a recently-constructed unified treatment of all parts of neutron stars: the outer crust, the inner crust and the core based on modern microscopic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock calculations. To take the pulsar mass ranging from $1.0M_{\odot}$ to $2.0M_{\odot}$, we calculate the central density, the core/crust radii, the core/crust mass, the core/crustal thickness, the moment of inertia, and the crustal moment of inertia. Among them, the crustal moment of inertia could be effectively c…
We study the properties of pasta structures and their influence on the neutron star observables employing the effective relativistic mean-field (E-RMF) model. The compressible liquid drop model is used to incorporate the finite size effects, considering the possibility of nonspherical structures in the inner crust. The unified equation of states are constructed for several E-RMF parameters to study various properties such as pasta mass and thickness in the neutron star's crust. The majority of the pasta properties are sensitive to the symmetry energy in the subsaturation density region. Using …
Observations of soft X-ray transients in quiescence suggest the existence of heat sources in the crust of accreting neutron stars. Heat is thought to be released by electroweak and nuclear processes triggered by the burying of ashes of X-ray bursts. The heating is studied using a fully quantum approach taking consistently into account nuclear shell effects. We have followed the evolution of ashes made of $^{56}$Fe employing the nuclear energy-density functional theory. Both the outer and inner crusts are described using the same functional, thus ensuring a unified and thermodynamically consist…
Besides their intrinsic nuclear-structure value, nuclear mass models are essential for astrophysical applications, such as r-process nucleosynthesis and neutron-star structure. To overcome the intrinsic limitations of existing "state-of-the-art" mass models, we propose a refinement based on a Bayesian Neural Network (BNN) formalism. A novel BNN approach is implemented with the goal of optimizing mass residuals between theory and experiment. A significant improvement (of about 40%) in the mass predictions of existing models is obtained after BNN refinement. Moreover, these improved results are …
Pulsars are highly magnetized rotating neutron stars with a very stable rotation speed. Irrespective of their stable rotation rate, many pulsars have been observed with the sudden jump in the rotation rate, which is known as pulsar glitch. The glitch phenomena are considered to be an exhibit of superfluidity of neutron matter inside the neutron star's crustal region. The magnitude of such rapid change in rotation rate relative to their stable rotation frequency can quantify the moment of inertia of the crustal region to the total moment of inertia of the star called as the fractional moment of…
Bayesian analysis of the shear modulus in the neutron-star crust
Grand Accélérateur National d’Ions Lourds (GANIL), CEA/DRF - CNRS/IN2P3（大离子重加速器（GANIL），CEA/DRF-CNRS/IN2P3）；Université de Caen Normandie, ENSICAEN, CNRS/IN2P3, LPC Caen UMR6534（诺曼底卡昂大学，ENSICAEN，CNRS/IN2P3，LPC Caen UMR6534）；Institut Universitaire de France (IUF)（法国高等研究院）
The sensitivity of the stellar moment of inertia to the neutron-star matter equation of state is examined using accurately-calibrated relativistic mean-field models. We probe this sensitivity by tuning both the density dependence of the symmetry energy and the high density component of the equation of state, properties that are at present poorly constrained by existing laboratory data. Particularly attractive is the study of the fraction of the moment of inertia contained in the solid crust. Analytic treatments of the crustal moment of inertia reveal a high sensitivity to the transition pressu…
We systematically examine torsional shear oscillations of neutron star crusts by newly taking into account the possible presence of the phase of cylindrical nuclei. In this study, we neglect an effect of magnetic fields, under which the shear oscillations can be damped by the magnetic interaction. First, by identifying the low frequency quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) observed in the soft-gamma repeaters (SGRs) as the fundamental torsional oscillations, we constrain the slope parameter of the nuclear symmetry energy, $L$, for reasonable values of the star's mass $M$ and radius $R$. Meanwhil…
We study the symmetry energy and the core-crust transition in neutron stars using the finite-range Gogny nuclear interaction and examine the deduced crustal thickness and crustal moment of inertia. We start by analyzing the second-, fourth- and sixth-order coefficients of the Taylor expansion of the energy per particle in powers of the isospin asymmetry for Gogny forces. These coefficients provide information about the departure of the symmetry energy from the widely used parabolic law. The neutron star core-crust transition is evaluated by looking at the onset of thermodynamical instability o…
A number of observed phenomena associated with individual neutron star systems or neutron star populations find explanations in models in which the neutron star crust plays an important role. We review recent work examining the sensitivity to the slope of the symmetry energy $L$ of such models, and constraints extracted on $L$ from confronting them with observations. We focus on six sets of observations and proposed explanations: (i) The cooling rate of the neutron star in Cassiopeia A, confronting cooling models which include enhanced cooling in the nuclear pasta regions of the inner crust, (…
The accretion of matter onto the surface of a neutron star in a low-mass X-ray binary triggers X-ray bursts, whose ashes are buried and further processed thus altering the composition and the properties of the stellar crust. In this second paper of a series, the impact of accretion on the equation of state and on the global properties of neutron stars is studied in the framework of the nuclear energy-density functional theory. Considering ashes made of $^{56}$Fe, we calculated the equations of state using the same Brussels-Montreal nuclear energy-density functionals BSk19, BSk20, and BSk21, as…
We monitored the quiescent thermal emission from neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binaries after active periods of intense activity in x-rays (outbursts). The theoretical modeling of the thermal relaxation of the neutron star crust may be used to establish constraints on the crust composition and transport properties, depending on the astrophysical scenarios assumed. We numerically simulated the thermal evolution of the neutron star crust and compared them with inferred surface temperatures for five sources: MXB 1659-29, KS 1731-260, EXO 0748-676, XTE J1701-462 and IGR J17480-2446. We find that…
The functional form of the nuclear symmetry energy in the whole range of densities relevant for the neutron stars is still unknown. Discrepancies concern both the low as well as the high density behaviour of this function. By use of Bezier curves three different families of the symmetry energy shapes, relevant for different density range were introduced. Their consequences for the crustal properties of neutron stars are presented.
We propose a new heating mechanism in magnetar crusts. Magnetars' crustal magnetic fields are much stronger than their surface fields; therefore, magnetic pressure partially supports the crust against gravity. The crust loses magnetic pressure support as the field decays and must compensate by increasing the electron degeneracy pressure; the accompanying increase in the electron Fermi energy induces nonequilibrium, exothermic electron captures. The total heat released via field-decay electron captures is comparable to the total magnetic energy in the crust. Thus, field-decay electron captures …
This paper presents an investigation into the pycnonuclear reaction rates in dense crustal matter of neutron stars contaminated with strange quark matter nuggets. The presence of such nuggets in the crustal matter of neutron stars would be a natural consequence if Witten's strange quark matter hypothesis is correct. The methodology presented in this paper is a recreation of a recent representation of nuclear force interactions embedded within pycnonuclear reaction processes. The study then extends the methodology to incorporate distinctive theoretical characteristics of strange quark matter nu…
