Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2005-02-05
Astrophys.J.625:291-306,2005
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
34 pages, 8 figures, AASTeX. Accepted for publication in ApJ
Scientific paper
10.1086/429551
Rotochemical heating originates in a departure from beta equilibrium due to spin-down compression in a rotating neutron star. The main consequence is that the star eventually arrives at a quasi-equilibrium state, in which the thermal photon luminosity depends only on the current value of the spin-down power, which is directly measurable. Only in millisecond pulsars the spin-down power remains high long enough for this state to be reached with a substantial luminosity. We report an extensive study of the effect of this heating mechanism on the thermal evolution of millisecond pulsars, developing a general formalism in the slow-rotation approximation of general relativity that takes the spatial structure of the star fully into account, and using a sample of realistic equations of state to solve the non-superfluid case numerically. We show that nearly all observed millisecond pulsars are very likely to be in the quasi-equilibrium state. Our predicted quasi-equilibrium temperatures for PSR J0437-4715 are only 20% lower than inferred from observations. Accounting for superfluidity should increase the predicted value.
Fernandez Rodrigo
Reisenegger Andreas
No associations
LandOfFree
Rotochemical Heating in Millisecond Pulsars. Formalism and Non-superfluid case does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Rotochemical Heating in Millisecond Pulsars. Formalism and Non-superfluid case, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Rotochemical Heating in Millisecond Pulsars. Formalism and Non-superfluid case will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-436671