7 papers
Plasticity of Neutron Star Crusts
Matthew E Caplan, Nevin T Smith, Ashley J Bransgrove +1
We use first-principles molecular dynamics simulations to study the deformation and breaking of neutron star crusts. When simulating with strain rates several orders of magnitude s…
Revisiting the Rheology of Neutron Star Crusts with Molecular Dynamics
Matthew E Caplan, Ashley Bransgrove
Explosive events from magnetars are likely due to the catastrophic release of stress in their crusts, but the behavior of crustal matter beyond linear elasticity is poorly understo…
Vortex Dynamics in the Neutron Star Inner Crust
Xin Sheng, Bennett Link, Matthew E. Caplan +1
We study the superfluid vortex motion in the neutron star inner crust through direct three-dimensional simulations of the coupled dynamics of the vortex and the nuclear lattice. We…
Grain Boundary Diffusion in Yukawa Crystals
Matthew E. Caplan, Nevin T. Smith, Dany Yaacoub +3
We present calculations of diffusion coefficients in grain boundaries in Yukawa crystals for astrophysics. Our methods follow from our recent work calculating diffusion coefficient…
Improvised Nuclear Weapons with 60%-Enriched Uranium
Matt E. Caplan
In this work we show that as little as 40 kg of 60%-enriched uranium can be used to build a crude nuclear weapon with a kiloton yield. While too large to fit on a missile, such a w…
New Molecular Dynamics Methods for Simulating Neutron Star Crusts with Superfluid Vortices
M. E. Caplan, N. T. Smith
Superfluid vortices in neutron star crusts are thought to be pinned to the lattice of nuclei in the crust. The unpinning of superfluid vortices in spin glitches therefore motivates…