Neutron degeneracy and plasma physics effects on radiative neutron captures in neutron star crust

Abstract

We consider the astrophysical reaction rates for radiative neutron capture reactions ($n,\gamma$) in the crust of a neutron star. The presence of degenerate neutrons at high densities (mainly in the inner crust) can drastically affect the reaction rates. Standard rates assuming a Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution for neutrons can underestimate the rates by several orders of magnitude. We derive simple analytical expressions for reaction rates at a variety of conditions with account for neutron degeneracy. We also discuss the plasma effects on the outgoing radiative transition channel in neutron radiative capture reactions and show that these effects can also increase the reaction rates by a few orders of magnitude. In addition, using detailed balance, we analyze the effects of neutron degeneracy and plasma physics on reverse ($\gamma ,n$) photodisintegration. We discuss the dependence of the reaction rates on temperature and neutron chemical potential and outline the efficiency of these reactions in the neutron star crust.

arXiv comment11 pages, 6 figures

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Cited by in corpus (5)

• Nuclear Physics of the Outer Layers of Accreting Neutron Stars
• Nuclear Reactions in the Crusts of Accreting Neutron Stars
• Crust of accreting neutron stars within simplified reaction network
• Equation of state and composition of the inner crust of an accreting neutron star: multicomponent model
• Capture Rates of Highly Degenerate Neutrons