Spin and magnetism in old neutron stars

dc.creatorColpi, Monica
dc.creatorPossenti, Andrea
dc.creatorPopov, S. B.
dc.creatorPizzolato, Fabio
dc.date2000-12-18
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-07T01:57:05Z
dc.date.available2026-07-07T01:57:05Z
dc.descriptionThe thermal, spin and magnetic evolution of neutron stars in the old low mass binaries is first explored. Recycled to very short periods via accretion torques, the neutron stars lose their magnetism progressively. If accretion proceeds undisturbed for 100 Myrs these stars can rotate close to break up with periods far below the minimum observed of 1.558 ms. We investigate their histories using population synthesis models to show that a tail should exist in the period distribution below 1.558 ms. The search of these ultrafastly spinning neutron stars as pulsars can help discriminating among the various equations of state for nuclear matter, and can shed light into the physics of binary evolution. The evolution of isolated neutron stars in the Galaxy is explored beyond the pulsar phase. Moving through the tenuous interstellar medium, these old solitary neutron stars lose their rotational energy. Whether also their magnetism fades is still a mystery. A population synthesis model has revealed that only a tiny fraction of them is able to accrete from the interstellar medium, shining in the X-rays. There is the hope that these solitary stars will eventually appear as faint sources in the Chandra sky survey. This might give insight on the long term evolution of the magnetic field in isolated objects.
dc.description28 pages, 11 PostScript figures. To be published in "Physics of Neutron Star Interiors" (Lecture Notes in Physics), ed. D. Blaschke, N.K. Glendenning and A. Sedrakian (Springer, 2001)
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0012394
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0012394
dc.identifier.urihttp://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/2247
dc.subjectAstrophysics
dc.titleSpin and magnetism in old neutron stars
dc.typetext

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