No Arabic abstract
Using relativistic mean-field models, the formation of clusterized matter, as the one expected to exist in the inner crust of neutron stars, is determined under the effect of strong magnetic fields. As already predicted from a calculation of the unstable modes resulting from density fluctuations at subsaturation densities, we confirm in the present work that for magnetic field intensities of the order of $approx 5 times 10^{16}$ G to $5 times 10^{17}$ G, pasta phases may occur for densities well above the zero-field crust-core transition density. This confirms that the extension of the crust may be larger than expected. It is also verified that the equilibrium structure of the clusterized matter is very sensitive to the intensity of the magnetic fields. As a result, the decay of the magnetic field may give rise to internal stresses which may result on the yield and fracture of the inner crust lattice.
We investigated the structure of the low density regions of the inner crust of neutron stars using the Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov (HFB) model to predict the proton content $Z$ of the nuclear clusters and, together with the lattice spacing, the proton content of the crust as a function of the total baryonic density $rho_b$. The exploration of the energy surface in the $(Z,rho_b)$ configuration space and the search for the local minima require thousands of calculations. Each of them implies an HFB calculation in a box with a large number of particles, thus making the whole process very demanding. In this work, we apply a statistical model based on a Gaussian Process Emulator that makes the exploration of the energy surface ten times faster. We also present a novel treatment of the HFB equations that leads to an uncertainty on the total energy of $approx 4$ keV per particle. Such a high precision is necessary to distinguish neighbour configurations around the energy minima.
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, (ii) the upper limit of the observed periods of young X-ray pulsars, confronting models of magnetic field decay in the crust caused by the high resistivity of the nuclear pasta layer, (iii) glitches from the Vela pulsar, confronting the paradigm that they arise due to a sudden re-coupling of the crustal neutron superfluid to the crustal lattice after a period during which they were decoupled due to vortex pinning, (iv) The frequencies of quasi-periodic oscillations in the X-ray tail of light curves from giant flares from soft gamma-ray repeaters, confronting models of torsional crust oscillations, (v) the upper limit on the frequency to which millisecond pulsars can be spun-up due to accretion from a binary companion, confronting models of the r-mode instability arising above a threshold frequency determined in part by the viscous dissipation timescale at the crust-core boundary, and (vi) the observations of precursor electromagnetic flares a few seconds before short gamma-ray bursts, confronting a model of crust shattering caused by resonant excitation of a crustal oscillation mode by the tidal gravitational field of a companion neutron star just before merger.
We study the properties of hot beta-stable nuclear matter using equations of state derived within the Brueckner-Hartree-Fock approach at finite temperature including consistent three-body forces. Simple and accurate parametrizations of the finite-temperature equations of state are provided. The properties of hot neutron stars are then investigated within this framework, in particular the temperature dependence of the maximum mass. We find very small temperature effects and analyze the interplay of the different contributions.
Background: The nuclear symmetry energy $E_{sym}(rho)$ encodes information about the energy necessary to make nuclear systems more neutron-rich. While its slope parameter L at the saturation density $rho_0$ of nuclear matter has been relatively well constrained by recent astrophysical observations and terrestrial nuclear experiments, its curvature $K_{rm{sym}}$ characterizing the $E_{sym}(rho)$ around $2rho_0$ remains largely unconstrained. Over 520 calculations for $E_{sym}(rho)$ using various nuclear theories and interactions in the literature have predicted several significantly different $K_{rm{sym}}-L$ correlations. Purpose: If a unique $K_{rm{sym}}-L$ correlation of $E_{sym}(rho)$ can be firmly established, it will enable us to progressively better constrain the high-density behavior of $E_{sym}(rho)$ using the available constraints on its slope parameter L. We investigate if and by how much the different $K_{rm{sym}}-L$ correlations may affect neutron star observables. Method: A meta-model of nuclear Equation of States (EOSs) with three representative $K_{rm{sym}}-L$ correlation functions is used to generate multiple EOSs for neutron stars. We then examine effects of the $K_{rm{sym}}-L$ correlation on the crust-core transition density and pressure as well as the radius and tidal deformation of canonical neutron stars. Results:The $K_{rm{sym}}-L$ correlation affects significantly both the crust-core transition density and pressure. It also has strong imprints on the radius and tidal deformability of canonical neutron stars especially at small L values. The available data from LIGO/VIRGO and NICER set some useful limits for the slope L but can not distinguish the three representative $K_{rm{sym}}-L$ correlations considered.
We use covariant density functional theory to obtain the equation of state (EoS) of matter in compact stars at non-zero temperature, including the full baryon octet as well as the $Delta(1232)$ resonance states. Global properties of hot $Delta$-admixed hypernuclear stars are computed for fixed values of entropy per baryon ($S/A$) and lepton fraction ($Y_L$). Universal relations between the moment of inertia, quadrupole moment, tidal deformability, and compactness of compact stars are established for fixed values of $S/A$ and $Y_L$ that are analogous to those known for cold catalyzed compact stars. We also verify that the $I$-Love-$Q$ relations hold at finite temperature for constant values of $S/A$ and $Y_L$.