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Allard V, Chamel N. Gapless Neutron Superfluidity Can Explain the Late Time Cooling of Transiently Accreting Neutron Stars. Phys Rev Lett 2024; 132:181001. [PMID: 38759181 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.132.181001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2022] [Revised: 01/09/2024] [Accepted: 03/05/2024] [Indexed: 05/19/2024]
Abstract
The current interpretation of the observed late time cooling of transiently accreting neutron stars in low-mass x-ray binaries during quiescence requires the suppression of neutron superfluidity in their crust at variance with recent ab initio many-body calculations of dense matter. Focusing on the two emblematic sources KS 1731-260 and MXB 1659-29, we show that their thermal evolution can be naturally explained by considering the existence of a neutron superflow driven by the pinning of quantized vortices. Under such circumstances, we find that the neutron superfluid can be in a gapless state in which the specific heat is dramatically increased compared to that in the classical BCS state assumed so far, thus delaying the thermal relaxation of the crust. We perform neutron-star cooling simulations taking into account gapless superfluidity, and we obtain excellent fits to the data, thus reconciling astrophysical observations with microscopic theories. The imprint of gapless superfluidity on other observable phenomena is briefly discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- V Allard
- Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Université Libre de Bruxelles, CP 226, Boulevard du Triomphe, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium
| | - N Chamel
- Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Université Libre de Bruxelles, CP 226, Boulevard du Triomphe, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium
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Wolf RN, Beck D, Blaum K, Böhm C, Borgmann C, Breitenfeldt M, Chamel N, Goriely S, Herfurth F, Kowalska M, Kreim S, Lunney D, Manea V, Minaya Ramirez E, Naimi S, Neidherr D, Rosenbusch M, Schweikhard L, Stanja J, Wienholtz F, Zuber K. Plumbing neutron stars to new depths with the binding energy of the exotic nuclide 82Zn. Phys Rev Lett 2013; 110:041101. [PMID: 25166148 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.110.041101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2012] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
Modeling the composition of neutron-star crusts depends strongly on binding energies of neutron-rich nuclides near the N = 50 and N = 82 shell closures. Using a recent development of time-of-flight mass spectrometry for on-line purification of radioactive ion beams to access more exotic species, we have determined for the first time the mass of (82)Zn with the ISOLTRAP setup at the ISOLDE-CERN facility. With a robust neutron-star model based on nuclear energy-density-functional theory, we solve the general relativistic Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff equations and calculate the neutron-star crust composition based on the new experimental mass. The composition profile is not only altered but now constrained by experimental data deeper into the crust than before.
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Affiliation(s)
- R N Wolf
- Institut für Physik, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt Universität Greifswald, 17487 Greifswald, Germany
| | - D Beck
- GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH, Planckstraße 1, 64291 Darmstadt, Germany
| | - K Blaum
- Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Saupfercheckweg 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Ch Böhm
- Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Saupfercheckweg 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Ch Borgmann
- Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Saupfercheckweg 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - M Breitenfeldt
- Instituut voor Kern- en Stralingsfysica, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200d, B-3001 Heverlee, Belgium
| | - N Chamel
- Institut d'Astronomie et d'Astrophysique, CP-226, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
| | - S Goriely
- Institut d'Astronomie et d'Astrophysique, CP-226, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
| | - F Herfurth
- GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH, Planckstraße 1, 64291 Darmstadt, Germany
| | | | - S Kreim
- Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Saupfercheckweg 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany and CERN, 1211 Geneva 23, Switzerland
| | - D Lunney
- CSNSM-IN2P3-CNRS, Université Paris-Sud, 91405 Orsay, France
| | - V Manea
- CSNSM-IN2P3-CNRS, Université Paris-Sud, 91405 Orsay, France
| | - E Minaya Ramirez
- GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH, Planckstraße 1, 64291 Darmstadt, Germany and Helmholtz-Institut Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany
| | - S Naimi
- CSNSM-IN2P3-CNRS, Université Paris-Sud, 91405 Orsay, France and RIKEN Nishina Center for Accelerator-based Science, RIKEN, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako-shi, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
| | - D Neidherr
- GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH, Planckstraße 1, 64291 Darmstadt, Germany and Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Saupfercheckweg 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - M Rosenbusch
- Institut für Physik, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt Universität Greifswald, 17487 Greifswald, Germany
| | - L Schweikhard
- Institut für Physik, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt Universität Greifswald, 17487 Greifswald, Germany
| | - J Stanja
- Institut für Kern- und Teilchenphysik, Technische Universität Dresden, 01069 Dresden, Germany
| | - F Wienholtz
- Institut für Physik, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt Universität Greifswald, 17487 Greifswald, Germany
| | - K Zuber
- Institut für Kern- und Teilchenphysik, Technische Universität Dresden, 01069 Dresden, Germany
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Abstract
Large pulsar frequency glitches are generally interpreted as sudden transfers of angular momentum between the neutron superfluid permeating the inner crust and the rest of the star. Despite the absence of viscous drag, the neutron superfluid is strongly coupled to the crust due to nondissipative entrainment effects. These effects are shown to severely limit the maximum amount of angular momentum that can possibly be transferred during glitches. In particular, it is found that the glitches observed in the Vela pulsar require an additional reservoir of angular momentum.
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Affiliation(s)
- N Chamel
- Institut d'Astronomie et d'Astrophysique, CP-226, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
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Affiliation(s)
- C. J. Pethick
- The Niels Bohr International Academy, The Niels Bohr Institute, Blegdamsvej 17, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
- NORDITA, Roslagstullsbacken 23, SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - N. Chamel
- Institut d'Astronomie et d'Astrophysique, CP-226, Université Libre de Bruxelles, BE-1050 Brussels, Belgium
| | - Sanjay Reddy
- T2, MS B283, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA
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Goriely S, Chamel N, Pearson JM. Skyrme-Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov nuclear mass formulas: crossing the 0.6 MeV accuracy threshold with microscopically deduced pairing. Phys Rev Lett 2009; 102:152503. [PMID: 19518625 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.102.152503] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2008] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
We present a new Skyrme-Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov nuclear-mass model in which the contact-pairing force is constructed from microscopic pairing gaps of symmetric nuclear matter and neutron matter calculated from realistic two- and three-body forces, with medium-polarization effects included. With the pairing being treated more realistically than in any of our earlier models, the rms deviation with respect to essentially all the available mass data falls to 0.581 MeV, the best value ever found within the mean-field framework. Since our Skyrme force is also constrained by the properties of pure neutron matter, this new model is particularly well suited for application to astrophysical problems involving a neutron-rich environment, such as the elucidation of the r process of nucleosynthesis, and the description of supernova cores and neutron-star crusts.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Goriely
- Institut d'Astronomie et d'Astrophysique, CP-226, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
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