scholarly journals Experimental Challenge to Heavy Element Synthesis under Explosive Burning on Neutron Stars

2020 ◽  
Vol 227 ◽  
pp. 01010
Author(s):  
Shigeru Kubono

Binary stellar systems that involve a neutron star or two neutron stars make interesting phenomena, X-ray bursts and kilo-novae, respectively, which involve explosive burning either in the proton-rich environment or in the neutron-rich environment. These are very important problems for nuclear astrophysics. First, the current effort for the explosive hydrogen burning, the rapid proton capture (rp) process which would take place on a neutron star surface in X-ray burst is discussed together with a new X-ray observation that suggests the rp-process termination at around A = 100. The observation of the afterglow of the binary neutron star merger appears to be the kilo-nova predicted in the last decade in nuclear astrophysics, and to be the great success of the field. However, the detailed study of the kilo-nova by the r-process should be a great challenge for full understanding heavy element synthesis and the neutron star merger. Nuclear physics problems are discussed for the kilonova.

2020 ◽  
Vol 235 ◽  
pp. 07002
Author(s):  
Ingo Tews

Neutron stars are astrophysical objects of extremes, reaching the highest densities we can observe in the cosmos, and probing matter under conditions that cannot be recreated in terrestrial experiments. In August 2017, the first neutron-star merger has been observed, which provided compelling evidence that these events are an important site for r-process nucleosynthesis. Furthermore, the gravitational-wave signal of such events might shed light upon the nature of strongly interacting matter in the neutron-star core. To understand these remarkable events, reliable nuclear physics input is essential. In this contribution, I explain how to use chiral effective field theory and advanced many-body methods to provide a consistent and systematic approach to strongly inter- acting systems from nuclei to neutron stars with controlled theoretical uncertainties. I will discuss recent results for the equation of state relevant for the nuclear astrophysics of neutron stars and neutron-star mergers.


2018 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 237-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Frebel

Understanding the origin of the elements has been a decades-long pursuit, with many open questions remaining. Old stars found in the Milky Way and its dwarf satellite galaxies can provide answers because they preserve clean element abundance patterns of the nucleosynthesis processes that operated some 13 billion years ago, enabling reconstruction of the chemical evolution of the elements. This review focuses on the astrophysical signatures of heavy neutron-capture elements made in the s-, i-, and r-processes found in old stars. A highlight is the recently discovered r-process galaxy Reticulum II, which was enriched by a neutron star merger. These results show that old stars in dwarf galaxies provide a novel means to constrain the astrophysical site of the r-process, ushering in much-needed progress on this major outstanding question. This nuclear astrophysics research complements the many experimental and theoretical nuclear physics efforts into heavy-element formation, and also aligns with results on the gravitational-wave signature of neutron star mergers.


2003 ◽  
Vol 12 (05) ◽  
pp. 825-831 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. O. TAGIEVA ◽  
E. YAZGAN ◽  
A. ANKAY

We examined the fall-back disk models, and in general accretion, proposed to explain the properties of AXPs and SGRs. We checked the possibility of some gas remaining around the neutron star after a supernova explosion. We also compared AXPs and SGRs with the X-ray pulsars in X-ray binaries. We conclude that the existing models of accretion from a fall-back disk are insufficient to explain the nature of AXPs and SGRs.


1971 ◽  
Vol 46 ◽  
pp. 394-406
Author(s):  
F. Pacini

The Crab Nebula pulsar conforms to the model of a rotating magnetised neutron star in the rate of energy generation and the exponent of the rotation law.It is suggested that the main pulse is due to electrons and the precursor to protons. Both must radiate in coherent bunches. Optical and X-ray radiation is by the synchrotron process.The wisps observed in the Nebula may represent the release of an instability storing about 1043 erg and 1047–48 particles.Finally, some considerations are made about the general relation between supernova remnants and rotating neutron stars.


1990 ◽  
Vol 123 ◽  
pp. 89-110
Author(s):  
H. V. Bradt ◽  
A. M. Levine ◽  
E. H. Morgan ◽  
R. A. Remillard ◽  
J. H. Swank ◽  
...  

AbstractThe capabilities of the X-ray Timing Explorer (XTE) are described with particular attention paid to current scientific problems it will address from galactic neutron star systems to active galactic nuclei. It features a low-background continuous 2-200 keV response with large apertures (a 0.63-m2 proportional counter array and a 0.16-m2 dual rocking NaI/CsI scintillation array). Rapid response (in hours) to temporal phenomena, e.g. transients, is obtained by virtue of a scanning all-sky monitor and rapid maneuverability. XTE will carry out detailed energy-resolved studies of phenomena close to neutron stars (e.g. QPO’s) because of its sub-millisecond timing (to 10 μs), its high telemetry rates (to 256 kb/s), and the high throughput of its data system (to ≳ 2 × 105 c s−1).


2000 ◽  
Vol 195 ◽  
pp. 49-60
Author(s):  
W. Becker

Recent X-ray observatories such as ROSAT, ASCA, RXTE, BeppoSAX, and Chandra have achieved important progress in neutron star and pulsar astronomy. The identification of Geminga as a rotation-powered pulsar, the discovery of X-ray emission from millisecond pulsars, and the identification of cooling neutron stars are only a few of the fascinating results. In the following, I will give a brief review on the X-ray emission properties of rotation-powered pulsars and their wind nebulae.


2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (11) ◽  
pp. 2041015
Author(s):  
John L. Friedman ◽  
Nikolaos Stergioulas

The first inspiral of two neutron stars observed in gravitational waves was remarkably close, allowing the kind of simultaneous gravitational wave and electromagnetic observation that had not been expected for several years. Their merger, followed by a gamma-ray burst and a kilonova, was observed across the spectral bands of electromagnetic telescopes. These GW and electromagnetic observations have led to dramatic advances in understanding short gamma-ray bursts; determining the origin of the heaviest elements; and determining the maximum mass of neutron stars. From the imprint of tides on the gravitational waveforms and from observations of X-ray binaries, one can extract the radius and deformability of inspiraling neutron stars. Together, the radius, maximum mass, and causality constrain the neutron-star equation of state, and future constraints can come from observations of post-merger oscillations. We selectively review these results, filling in some of the physics with derivations and estimates.


1987 ◽  
Vol 125 ◽  
pp. 457-457
Author(s):  
F.R. Harnden

For years the theoretical models of neutron star formation and evolution had remained largely unconstrained by observation. Following the Einstein X-ray Observatory surveys of supernova remnants and pulsars, however, strict temperature limits were placed on many putative neutron stars. The Einstein search for additional objects in the class of supernova remnants with embedded pulsars has increased the number of such objects by two. For the four objects in this class, the surface temperature limits (see Table 1) provide meaningful logically sound constraints on the neutron star models. For the future, however, still better X-ray observations are needed, both to increase the number of objects available for study and to refine the spatial and spectral capabilities of the X-ray measurements.


1987 ◽  
Vol 125 ◽  
pp. 207-225
Author(s):  
Jonathan Arons

Some basic concepts of accretion onto the polar caps of magnetized neutron stars are reviewed. Preliminary results of new, multidimensional, time–dependent calculations of polar cap flow are outlined, and are used to suggest the possible observability of fluctuations in the X–ray intensity of accretion powered pulsars on time scales of 10–100 msec. The possible relevance of such fluctuations to Quasi–Periodic oscillations is suggested. Basic concepts of the interaction between a disk and the magnetosphere of a neutron star are also discussed. Some recent work on the disk–magnetosphere interaction is outlined, leading to the suggestion that a neutron star can lose angular momentum by driving some or all of the mass in the disk off as a centrifugally driven wind. The relevance of such mass loss to the orbital evolution of the binary is pointed out.


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