Cooling of neutron stars in soft x-ray transients
Abstract
Thermal states of neutron stars in soft x-ray transients (SXRTs) are thought to be determined by “deep crustal heating” in the accreted matter that drives the quiescent luminosity and cooling via emission of photons and neutrinos from the interior. In this work, we assume a global thermal steady state of the transient system and calculate the heating curves (quiescent surface luminosity as a function of mean accretion rate) predicted from theoretical models, taking into account variations in the equations of state, superfluidity gaps, thickness of the light element layer, and a phenomenological description of the direct Urca threshold. We further provide a statistical analysis on the uncertainties in these parameters, and compare the overall results with observations of several SXRTs, in particular the two sources containing the coldest (SAX J1808.4-3658) and the hottest (Aql X-1) neutron stars. Interpretation of the observational data indicates that the direct Urca process is required for the most massive stars and also suggests small superfluid gaps.
- Authors:
-
- Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy
- Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy; Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Physics Division
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Nuclear Physics (NP); National Science Foundation (NSF)
- Contributing Org.:
- Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States). Inst. for Nuclear Theory
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1460178
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1378414
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC05-00OR22725; NSF PHY 1554876; 0711134
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Physical Review C
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 96; Journal Issue: 3; Journal ID: ISSN 2469-9985
- Publisher:
- American Physical Society (APS)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS; neutron stars and pulsars; composition of astronomical objects; Monte Carlo methods
Citation Formats
Han, Sophia, and Steiner, Andrew W. Cooling of neutron stars in soft x-ray transients. United States: N. p., 2017.
Web. doi:10.1103/PhysRevC.96.035802.
Han, Sophia, & Steiner, Andrew W. Cooling of neutron stars in soft x-ray transients. United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.96.035802
Han, Sophia, and Steiner, Andrew W. Tue .
"Cooling of neutron stars in soft x-ray transients". United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.96.035802. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1460178.
@article{osti_1460178,
title = {Cooling of neutron stars in soft x-ray transients},
author = {Han, Sophia and Steiner, Andrew W.},
abstractNote = {Thermal states of neutron stars in soft x-ray transients (SXRTs) are thought to be determined by “deep crustal heating” in the accreted matter that drives the quiescent luminosity and cooling via emission of photons and neutrinos from the interior. In this work, we assume a global thermal steady state of the transient system and calculate the heating curves (quiescent surface luminosity as a function of mean accretion rate) predicted from theoretical models, taking into account variations in the equations of state, superfluidity gaps, thickness of the light element layer, and a phenomenological description of the direct Urca threshold. We further provide a statistical analysis on the uncertainties in these parameters, and compare the overall results with observations of several SXRTs, in particular the two sources containing the coldest (SAX J1808.4-3658) and the hottest (Aql X-1) neutron stars. Interpretation of the observational data indicates that the direct Urca process is required for the most massive stars and also suggests small superfluid gaps.},
doi = {10.1103/PhysRevC.96.035802},
journal = {Physical Review C},
number = 3,
volume = 96,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Sep 05 00:00:00 EDT 2017},
month = {Tue Sep 05 00:00:00 EDT 2017}
}
Web of Science
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Works referencing / citing this record:
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