Population synthesis as a probe of neutron star thermal evolution

Details Population synthesis as a probe of neutron star thermal evolution Population synthesis as a probe of neutron star thermal evolution

2004-11-22

arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0411618v2

Astron.Astrophys. 448 (2006) 327

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

10 pages, 7 figures, table extended, references added, final version to appear in Astron. & Astrophys

Scientific paper

10.1051/0004-6361:20042412

The study of thermal emission from isolated, cooling neutron stars plays a key role in probing the physical conditions of both the star crust and the core. The comparison of theoretical models for the star thermal evolution with the surface temperature derived from X-ray observations of sources of different age is one of the main tools to investigate the properties of the interior and constrain the equation of state. Here we propose to use population synthesis studies as an independent approach to test the physics governing the star cooling. Theoretical Log N - Log S distributions depend on the assumed neutron star thermal evolution. We have computed distributions for several different cooling scenarios and found that comparison with the observed Log N - Log S of isolated neutron stars is effective in discriminating among cooling models. Among the eleven cooling models considered in this paper, all of which may reproduce the observed temperature vs. age diagram, only at most three can explain the Log N - Log S distribution of close-by cooling neutron stars. The Log N - Log S test, being a ``global'' one and despite some limitations, appears capable of complementing the standard temperature vs. age test used up to now.

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