Pairing effects in nuclear pasta phase within the relativistic Thomas-Fermi formalism

Pairing effects in non-uniform nuclear matter, surrounded by electrons, are studied in the protoneutron star early stage and in other conditions. The so-called nuclear pasta phases at sub saturation densities are solved in a Wigner-Seitz cell, within the Thomas-Fermi approximation. The solution of this problem is important for the understanding of the physics of a newly born neutron star after a supernova explosion. It is shown that the pasta phase is more stable than uniform nuclear matter on some conditions and the pairing force relevance is studied in the determination of these stable phases.

Magnetorotational core collapse of possible GRB progenitors – II. Formation of protomagnetars and collapsars

ABSTRACT We assess the variance of the post-collapse evolution remnants of compact, massive, low-metallicity stars, under small changes in the degrees of rotation and magnetic field of selected pre-supernova cores. These stellar models are commonly considered progenitors of long gamma-ray bursts. The fate of the protoneutron star (PNS) formed after the collapse, whose mass may continuously grow due to accretion, critically depends on the poloidal magnetic field strength at bounce. Should the poloidal magnetic field be sufficiently weak, the PNS collapses to a black hole (BH) within a few seconds. Models on this evolutionary track contain promising collapsar engines. Poloidal magnetic fields smooth over large radial scales (e.g. dipolar fields) or slightly augmented with respect to the original pre-supernova core yield long-lasting PNSs. In these models, BH formation is avoided or staved off for a long time, hence, they may produce protomagnetars (PMs). Some of our PM candidates have been run for $\lesssim 10\,$ s after core bounce, but they have not entered the Kelvin–Helmholtz phase yet. Among these models, some display episodic events of spin-down during which we find properties broadly compatible with the theoretical expectations for PMs ($M_\rm {\small PNS}\approx 1.85{-}2.5\, \mathrm{M}_{\odot }$, $\bar{P}_\rm {\small PNS}\approx 1.5 {-} 4\,$ ms, and $b^{\rm surf}_\rm {\small PNS}\lesssim 10^{15}\,$ G) and their very collimated supernova ejecta have nearly reached the stellar surface with (still growing) explosion energies $\gtrsim {2} \times 10^{51}\, \textrm {erg}$.

Avoided crossing in gravitational wave spectra from protoneutron star

ABSTRACT The ramp up signals of gravitational waves appearing in the numerical simulations could be important signals to estimate parameters of the protoneutron star (PNS) at supernova explosions. To identify the signals with PNS oscillations, we make a linear perturbation analysis and compare the resultant eigenfrequencies with the ramp up signals obtained via the 2D numerical simulations. Then, we find that the ramp up signals correspond well to the g1-mode in the early phase and to the f-mode, to which the g1-mode is exchanged via the avoided crossing. We also confirm that the f- and g1-modes are almost independent of the selection of the PNS surface density in the later phase after core bounce. In addition, we successfully find that the fitting formula of g1- and f-modes, which correspond to the ramp up signals in the numerical simulation, as a function of the PNS average density. That is, via the direct observation of the gravitational waves after supernova explosion, one could extract the time evolution of the PNS average density using our fitting formula.

Magnetar formation through a convective dynamo in protoneutron stars

The release of spin-down energy by a magnetar is a promising scenario to power several classes of extreme explosive transients. However, it lacks a firm basis because magnetar formation still represents a theoretical challenge. Using the first three-dimensional simulations of a convective dynamo based on a protoneutron star interior model, we demonstrate that the required dipolar magnetic field can be consistently generated for sufficiently fast rotation rates. The dynamo instability saturates in the magnetostrophic regime with the magnetic energy exceeding the kinetic energy by a factor of up to 10. Our results are compatible with the observational constraints on galactic magnetar field strength and provide strong theoretical support for millisecond protomagnetar models of gamma-ray burst and superluminous supernova central engines.