How neutron stars 'playing it cool' could unlock exotic physics

Scientists have found that three neutron stars, born in the fires of other exploding stars, have cooled off surprisingly quickly, bringing us closer to understanding the exotic nature of matter within the cores of these extreme objects.


The discovery was made by a Spanish team led by Alessio Marino of the Institute of Space Sciences (ICE–CSIC) in Barcelona, using European and American space telescopes that work with X-ray light.


A neutron star is the collapsed core of a massive star that has gone supernova, and can contain up to nearly three times the mass of our sun in a spherical volume just about 6.8 miles (11 kilometers) across. All that matter compacted into such a small area means neutron stars are among the densest concentrations of matter in the known universe, second only to black holes. To make that statement more relatable, consider how a tablespoon of neutron-star material would be comparable to the mass of Mount Everest.



This extreme nature also means the physics that governs neutron stars' interiors remains murky. These objects are called neutron stars to begin with because their matter has been crushed to such a degree that negatively charged electrons and positively charged protons get smushed together, overcoming the electrostatic force between them to form an object full of just neutral neutrons. Deeper in the core of a neutron star, matter may be crushed to an even greater extent, forming exotic, never-before-seen particles such as hypothetical hyperons. Perhaps, scientists believe, or neutrons themselves could be popped apart within a neutron star, creating a soup of the universe's most fundamental particles: quarks.

Related: Weird cosmic object identified as the remains of an exploded dead star


What happens inside a neutron star is governed by the neutron star equation of state. Think of this as a playbook that determines a neutron star's internal structure and composition based on things like its mass, temperature, magnetic field and so on. The trouble is, scientists have literally hundreds of options for what this equation of state could be. Since we cannot replicate on Earth the conditions inside a neutron star, testing which model is the right one is highly dependent on matching them to what astronomical observations tell us.

Now, however, the discovery of three neutron stars with substantially lower surface temperatures compared to other neutron stars of similar age has provided a big clue, allowing researchers to rule out three-quarters of the possible models for the neutron star equation of state in one stroke. Two of the neutron stars are pulsars, which are rapidly spinning neutron stars that fire beams of radio jets toward us. The third neutron star, in the Vela Jr supernova remnant, doesn't display pulsar behavior, but that may just be because its radio jets do not point in our direction.

SOURCE: by Keith Cooper

#AmoPhysics, #NuclearPhysics,#AtomicNuclei, #NuclearReactions, #Radioactivity, #NuclearFission, #NuclearFusion, #NuclearEnergy, #NuclearPower, #FusionResearch, #FissionReactors, #RadioactiveDecay, #NuclearMedicine, #NuclearAstrophysics, #ParticleAcceleration, #NuclearSafety, #NuclearEngineering, #NuclearWeapons, #RadiationProtection, #NuclearPolicy, #NuclearWasteManagement.

Visit: amo-physics-conferences.scifat.com/

Member Nomation link: https://x-i.me/amocon
Award Nomination link: https://x-i.me/amonom

Get Connected Here
----------------------
----------------------

youtube.com/channel/UCtntbI1RB0O0CFLpr575_fg
instagram.com/amophysicsawards/

facebook.com/profile.php?id=100092029748922