Neutron specific heat in the crust of neutron stars from the nuclear band theory

Abstract

The inner crust of neutron stars, formed of a crystal lattice of uclear clusters immersed in a sea of unbound neutrons, may be the nique example of periodic nuclear systems. We have calculated the neutron specific heat in the shallow part of the crust using the band theory of solids with Skyrme nucleon-nucleon interactions. We have also tested the validity of various approximations. We have found that the neutron specific heat is well described by that of a Fermi gas, while the motion of the unbound neutrons is strongly affected by the nuclear lattice. These apparently contradictory results are explained by the particular properties of the neutron Fermi surface.

References in corpus (4)

• Cooling of the quasi-persistent neutron star X-ray transients KS 1731-260 and MXB 1659-29
• Semi-classical equation of state and specific heats for neutron-star inner crust with proton shell corrections
• On the validity of the Wigner-Seitz approximation in neutron star crust
• Nuclear Superfluidity and Cooling Time of Neutron-Star Crust

Cited by in corpus (10)

• Low-energy collective excitations in the neutron star inner crust
• Entrainment in Superfluid Neutron Star Crusts: Hydrodynamic Description and Microscopic Origin
• Unified description of neutron superfluidity in the neutron-star crust with analogy to anisotropic multi-band BCS superconductors
• Wigner-Seitz cells in neutron star crust with finite range interactions
• Properties of a quantum vortex in neutron matter
• Superfluid extension of the self-consistent time-dependent band theory for neutron star matter: Anti-entrainment versus superfluid effects in the slab phase
• Gapless superfluidity in neutron stars: Normal-fluid fraction
• Gapless superfluidity in neutron stars: Thermal properties
• Superfluid fraction in the crystalline crust of a neutron star: role of BCS pairing
• Heat capacity of low density neutron matter: from quantum to classical regimes