Vortex Pinning in Neutron Stars, Slipstick Dynamics, and the Origin of Spin Glitches

Abstract

We study pinning and unpinning of superfluid vortices in the inner crust of a neutron star using three-dimensional dynamical simulations. Strong pinning occurs for certain lattice orientations of an idealized, body-centered-cubic lattice and occurs generally in an amorphous or impure nuclear lattice. The pinning force per unit length is ∼1016 dyn cm−1 for a vortex–nucleus interaction that is repulsive and ∼1017 dyn cm−1 for an attractive interaction. The pinning force is strong enough to account for observed spin jumps (glitches). Vortices forced through the lattice move with a slipstick character; for a range of superfluid velocities, the vortex can be in either a cold, pinned state or a hot, unpinned state, with strong excitation of Kelvin waves on the vortex. This two-state nature of vortex motion sets the stage for large-scale vortex movement that creates an observable spin glitch. We argue that the vortex array is likely to become tangled as a result of repeated unpinnings and repinnings. We conjecture that during a glitch, the Kelvin-wave excitation spreads rapidly along the direction of the mean superfluid vorticity and slower in the direction perpendicular to it, akin to an anisotropic deflagration.