Order-of-magnitude physics of neutron stars

Abstract

We use basic physics and simple mathematics accessible to advanced undergraduate students to estimate the main properties of neutron stars. We set the stage and introduce relevant concepts by discussing the properties of "everyday" matter on Earth, degenerate Fermi gases, white dwarfs, and scaling relations of stellar properties with polytropic equations of state. Then, we discuss various physical ingredients relevant for neutron stars and how they can be combined in order to obtain a couple of different simple estimates of their maximum mass, beyond which they would collapse, turning into black holes. Finally, we use the basic structural parameters of neutron stars to briefly discuss their rotational and electromagnetic properties.

13 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in European Physical Journal A

References in corpus (3)

• Shapiro delay measurement of a two solar mass neutron star
• A Massive Pulsar in a Compact Relativistic Binary
• Rotochemical Heating of Neutron Stars: Rigorous Formalism with Electrostatic Potential Perturbations

Cited by in corpus (6)

• Mirror Neutron Stars
• Exotic Compact Objects: The Dark White Dwarf
• A new statistical method for the structure of the inner crust of neutron stars
• Equation of State of Neutron Stars with Junction Conditions in the Starobinsky Model
• Large $\mathrm{Pm}$ small-scale kinematic dynamo in protoneutron stars
• Exotic atoms at extremely high magnetic fields: the case of neutron star atmosphere