Rapidly-rotating Neutron Stars Research Articles

Understanding the extreme luminosity of DES14X2fna

ABSTRACT We present DES14X2fna, a high-luminosity, fast-declining Type IIb supernova (SN IIb) at redshift z = 0.0453, detected by the Dark Energy Survey (DES). DES14X2fna is an unusual member of its class, with a light curve showing a broad, luminous peak reaching Mr ≃ −19.3 mag 20 d after explosion. This object does not show a linear decline tail in the light curve until ≃60 d after explosion, after which it declines very rapidly (4.30 ± 0.10 mag 100 d−1 in the r band). By fitting semi-analytic models to the photometry of DES14X2fna, we find that its light curve cannot be explained by a standard 56Ni decay model as this is unable to fit the peak and fast tail decline observed. Inclusion of either interaction with surrounding circumstellar material or a rapidly-rotating neutron star (magnetar) significantly increases the quality of the model fit. We also investigate the possibility for an object similar to DES14X2fna to act as a contaminant in photometric samples of SNe Ia for cosmology, finding that a similar simulated object is misclassified by a recurrent neural network (RNN)-based photometric classifier as an SN Ia in ∼1.1–2.4 per cent of cases in DES, depending on the probability threshold used for a positive classification.

OctApps: a library of Octave functions for continuous gravitational-wave data analysis

Gravitational waves are minute ripples in spacetime, first predicted by Einstein's general theory of relativity in 1916. Gravitational waves from rapidly-rotating neutron stars, whose shape deviates from perfect axisymmetry, are a potential astrophysical source of gravitational waves, but which so far have not been detected. The search for this type of signals, also known as continuous waves, presents a significant data analysis challenge, as their weak signatures are expected to be buried deep within the instrumental noise of the LIGO and Virgo detectors. The OctApps library provides various functions, written in Octave, intended to aid research scientists who perform searches for continuous gravitational waves.

A burst in a wind bubble and the impact on baryonic ejecta: high-energy gamma-ray flashes and afterglows from fast radio bursts and pulsar-driven supernova remnants

Tenuous wind bubbles, which are formed by the spin-down activity of central compact remnants, are relevant in some models of fast radio bursts (FRBs) and super-luminous supernovae. We study their high-energy signatures, focusing on the role of pair-enriched bubbles produced by young magnetars, rapidly-rotating neutron stars, and magnetized white dwarfs. (i) First, we study the nebular properties and the conditions allowing for escape of high-energy gamma-rays and radio waves, showing that their escape is possible for nebulae with ages of >10-100 yr. In the rapidly-rotating neutron star scenario, we find that radio emission from the quasi-steady nebula itself may be bright enough to be detected especially at sub-mm frequencies, which is relevant as a possible counterpart of pulsar-driven SNe and FRBs. (ii) Second, we consider the fate of bursting emission in the nebulae. We suggest that an impulsive burst may lead to a highly relativistic flow, which would interact with the nebula. If the shocked nebula is still relativistic, pre-existing non-thermal particles in the nebula can be significantly boosted by the forward shock, leading to short-duration (maybe millisecond or longer) high-energy gamma-ray flashes. Possible dissipation at the reverse shock may also lead to gamma-ray emission. (iii) After such flares, interactions with the baryonic ejecta may lead to afterglow emission with a duration of days to weeks. In the magnetar scenario, this burst-in-bubble model leads to the expectation that nearby (<10-100 Mpc) high-energy gamma-ray flashes may be detected by HAWC and CTA, and the subsequent afterglow emission may be seen by radio telescopes such as VLA. (iv) Finally, we discuss several implications specific to FRBs, including constraints on the emission regions and limits on soft gamma-ray counterparts.

The diversity of transients from magnetar birth in core collapse supernovae

Strongly-magnetized, rapidly-rotating neutron stars are contenders for the central engines of both long-duration gamma-ray bursts (LGRBs) and hydrogen-poor super-luminous supernovae (SLSNe-I). Models for typical (~minute long) LGRBs invoke magnetars with high dipole magnetic fields (Bd > 1e15 G) and short spin-down times, while models for SLSNe-I invoke neutron stars with weaker fields and longer spin-down times of weeks. Here we identify a transition region in the space of Bd and birth period for which a magnetar can power both a long GRB and a luminous SN. In particular, we show that a 2 ms period magnetar with a spin-down time of ~1e4 s can explain the observations of both the ultra-long GRB 111209 and its associated luminous SN2011kl. For magnetars with longer spin down times, we predict even longer duration (~1e6 s) GRBs and brighter supernovae, a correlation that extends to Swift J2058+05 (commonly interpreted as a tidal disruption event). We further show that previous estimates of the maximum rotational energy of a proto-magnetar were too conservative and energies up to Emax ~1-2e53 erg are possible. The magnetar model can therefore comfortably accommodate the extreme energy requirements recently posed by the most luminous supernova ASASSN-15lh. The high ionization flux from a pulsar wind nebula powering ASASSN-15lh may lead to an "ionization break-out" X-ray burst over the coming months, which would be accompanied by an abrupt change in the optical spectrum. We conclude by briefly contrasting millisecond magnetar and black hole models for SLSNe and ultra-long GRBs.

Effective no-hair relations for neutron stars and quark stars: Relativistic results

Astrophysical charge-free black holes are known to satisfy no-hair relations through which all multipole moments can be specified in terms of just their mass and spin angular momentum. We here investigate the possible existence of no-hair-like relations among multipole moments for neutron stars and quark stars that are independent of their equation of state. We calculate the multipole moments of these stars up to hexadecapole order by constructing uniformly-rotating and unmagnetized stellar solutions to the Einstein equations. For slowly-rotating stars, we construct stellar solutions to quartic order in spin in a slow-rotation expansion, while for rapidly-rotating stars, we solve the Einstein equations numerically with the LORENE and RNS codes. We find that the multipole moments extracted from these numerical solutions are consistent with each other. We confirm that the current-dipole is related to the mass-quadrupole in an approximately equation of state independent fashion, which does not break for rapidly rotating neutron stars or quark stars. We further find that the current-octupole and the mass-hexadecapole moments are related to the mass-quadrupole in an approximately equation of state independent way to $\sim 10%$, worsening in the hexadecapole case. All of our findings are in good agreement with previous work that considered stellar solutions to leading-order in a weak-field expansion. The quartic in spin, slowly-rotating solutions found here allow us to estimate the systematic errors in the measurement of the neutron star's mass and radius with future X-ray observations, such as NICER and LOFT. We find that the effect of these quartic-in-spin terms on the quadrupole and hexadecapole moments and stellar eccentricity may dominate the error budget for very rapidly-rotating neutron stars. The new universal relations found here should help to reduce such systematic errors.

PRECISION EPHEMERIDES FOR GRAVITATIONAL-WAVE SEARCHES. I. Sco X-1

Rapidly-rotating neutron stars are the only candidates for persistent high-frequency gravitational wave emission, for which a targeted search can be performed based on the spin period measured from electromagnetic (e.g. radio and X-ray) observations. The principal factor determining the sensitivity of such searches is the measurement precision of the physical parameters of the system. Neutron stars in X-ray binaries present additional computational demands for searches due to the uncertainty in the binary parameters. We present the results of a pilot study with the goal of improving the measurement precision of binary orbital parameters for candidate gravitational wave sources. We observed the optical counterpart of Sco X-1 in 2011 June with the William Herschel Telescope, and also made use of Very Large Telescope observations in 2011, to provide an additional epoch of radial-velocity measurements to earlier measurements in 1999. From a circular orbit fit to the combined dataset, we obtained an improvement of a factor of two in the orbital period precision, and a factor of 2.5 in the epoch of inferior conjunction $T_0$. While the new orbital period is consistent with the previous value of Gottllieb et al. (1975), the new $T_0$ (and the amplitude of variation of the Bowen line velocities) exhibited a significant shift, which we attribute to variations in the emission geometry with epoch. We propagate the uncertainties on these parameters through to the expected Advanced LIGO & VIRGO detector network observation epochs, and quantify the improvement obtained with additional optical observations.

Estimating the sensitivity of wide-parameter-space searches for gravitational-wave pulsars

This paper presents an in-depth study of how to estimate the sensitivity of searches for gravitational-wave pulsars -- rapidly-rotating neutron stars which emit quasi-sinusoidal gravitational waves. It is particularly concerned with searches over a wide range of possible source parameters, such as searches over the entire sky and broad frequency bands. Traditional approaches to estimating the sensitivity of such searches use either computationally-expensive Monte Carlo simulations, or analytic methods which sacrifice accuracy by making an unphysical assumption about the population of sources being searched for. This paper develops a new, analytic method of estimating search sensitivity which does not rely upon this unphysical assumption. Unlike previous analytic methods, the new method accurately predicts the sensitivity obtained using Monte Carlo simulations, while avoiding their computational expense. The change in estimated sensitivity due to properties of the search template bank, and the geographic configuration of the gravitational wave detector network, are also investigated.

PROBING MILLISECOND PULSAR EMISSION GEOMETRY USING LIGHT CURVES FROM THEFERMI/LARGE AREA TELESCOPE

An interesting new high-energy pulsar sub-population is emerging following early discoveries of gamma-ray millisecond pulsars (MSPs) by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT). We present results from 3D emission modeling, including the Special Relativistic effects of aberration and time-of-flight delays and also rotational sweepback of B-field lines, in the geometric context of polar cap (PC), outer gap (OG), and two-pole caustic (TPC) pulsar models. In contrast to the general belief that these very old, rapidly-rotating neutron stars (NSs) should have largely pair-starved magnetospheres due to the absence of significant pair production, we find that most of the light curves are best fit by TPC and OG models, which indicates the presence of narrow accelerating gaps limited by robust pair production -- even in these pulsars with very low spin-down luminosities. The gamma-ray pulse shapes and relative phase lags with respect to the radio pulses point to high-altitude emission being dominant for all geometries. We also find exclusive differentiation of the current gamma-ray MSP population into two MSP sub-classes: light curve shapes and lags across wavebands impose either pair-starved PC (PSPC) or TPC / OG-type geometries. In the first case, the radio pulse has a small lag with respect to the single gamma-ray pulse, while the (first) gamma-ray peak usually trails the radio by a large phase offset in the latter case. Finally, we find that the flux correction factor as a function of magnetic inclination and observer angles is typically of order unity for all models. Our calculation of light curves and flux correction factor for the case of MSPs is therefore complementary to the "ATLAS paper" of Watters et al. for younger pulsars.

Light Curves for Rapidly Rotating Neutron Stars

We present raytracing computations for light emitted from the surface of a rapidly-rotating neutron star in order to construct light curves for X-ray pulsars and bursters. These calculations are for realistic models of rapidly-rotating neutron stars which take into account both the correct exterior metric and the oblate shape of the star. We find that the most important effect arising from rotation comes from the oblate shape of the rotating star. We find that approximating a rotating neutron star as a sphere introduces serious errors in fitted values of the star's radius and mass if the rotation rate is very large. However, in most cases acceptable fits to the ratio M/R can be obtained with the spherical approximation.

Influence of differential rotation on the detectability of gravitational waves from ther-mode instability

Recently, it was shown that differential rotation is an unavoidable feature of nonlinear $r$-modes. We investigate the influence of this differential rotation on the detectability of gravitational waves emitted by a newly born, hot, rapidly-rotating neutron star, as it spins down due to the $r$-mode instability. We conclude that gravitational radiation may be detected by the advanced laser interferometer detector LIGO if the amount of differential rotation at the time the $r$-mode instability becomes active is not very high.

Pulse Shapes from Rapidly Rotating Neutron Stars: Equatorial Photon Orbits

We demonstrate that fitted values of stellar radius obtained by fitting theoretical light curves to observations of millisecond period X-ray pulsars can significantly depend on the method used to calculate the light curves. The worst-case errors in the fitted radius are evaluated by restricting ourselves to the case of light emitted and received in the equatorial plane of a rapidly-rotating neutron star. First, using an approximate flux which is adapted to the one-dimensional nature of such an emission region, we show how pulse shapes can be constructed using an exact spacetime metric and fully accounting for time-delay effects. We compare this to a method which approximates the exterior spacetime of the star by the Schwarzschild metric, inserts special relativistic effects by hand, and neglects time-delay effects. By comparing these methods, we show that there are significant differences in these methods for some applications, for example pulse timing and constraining the stellar radius. In the case of constraining the stellar radius, we show that fitting the approximate pulse shapes to the full calculation yields errors in the fitted radius of as much as about +/- 10%, depending on the rotation rate and size of the star as well as the details describing the emitting region. However, not all applications of pulse shape calculations suffer from significant errors: we also show that the calculation of the soft-hard phase lag for a 1 keV blackbody does not strongly depend on the method used for calculating the pulse shapes.

Propagation of Thermonuclear Flames on Rapidly Rotating Neutron Stars: Extreme Weather during Type I X‐Ray Bursts

We analyze the global hydrodynamic flow in the ocean of an accreting, rapidly rotating, nonmagnetic neutron star in a low-mass X-ray binary during a type I X-ray burst. We use both analytical arguments and numerical simulations of simplified models for ocean burning. Our analysis extends previous work by taking into account the rapid rotation of the star and the lift-up of the burning ocean during the burst. We find a new regime for the spreading of a nuclear burning front, where the flame is carried along a coherent shear flow across the front. If turbulent viscosity is weak, the speed of flame propagation is v_(flame) ~ (gh)^(1/2)/ft_n ~ 20 km s^(-1), where h is the scale height of the burning ocean, g is the local gravitational acceleration, t_n is the timescale for fast nuclear burning during the burst, and f is the Coriolis parameter, i.e., twice the local vertical component of the spin vector. If turbulent viscosity is dynamically important, the flame speed increases and reaches the maximum value, v^(max)_(flame_ ~ (gh/ft_n)^(1/2) ~ 300 km s^(-1), when the eddy overturn frequency is comparable to the Coriolis parameter f. We show that, as a result of rotationally reduced gravity, the thermonuclear runaway which ignites the ocean is likely to begin on the equator. The equatorial belt is ignited at the beginning of the burst, and the flame then propagates from the equator to the poles. Inhomogeneous cooling (equator first, poles second) of the hot ashes drives strong zonal currents which may be unstable to the formation of Jupiter-type vortices; we conjecture that these vortices are responsible for coherent modulation of X-ray flux in the tails of some bursts. We consider the effect of strong zonal currents on the frequency of modulation of the X-ray flux and show that the large values of the frequency drifts observed in some bursts can be accounted for within our model combined with the model of homogeneous radial expansion. Additionally, if vortices or other inhomogeneities are trapped in the forward zonal flows around the propagating burning front, fast chirps with large frequency ranges (~25-500 Hz) may be detectable during the burst rise. Finally, we argue that an MHD dynamo within the burning front can generate a small-scale magnetic field, which may enforce vertically rigid flow in the front's wake and can explain the coherence of oscillations in the burst tail.

Temperature Profiles of Accretion Disks around Rapidly Rotating Neutron Stars in General Relativity and the Implications for Cygnus X‐2

We calculate the temperature profiles of (thin) accretion disks around rapidly rotating neutron stars (with low surface magnetic fields), taking into account the full effects of general relativity. We then consider a model for the spectrum of the X-ray emission from the disk that is parameterized by the mass accretion rate, the color temperature, and the rotation rate of the neutron star. We derive constraints on these parameters for the X-ray source Cygnus X-2 using the estimates of the maximum temperature in the disk along with the disk and boundary layer luminosities, using the spectrum inferred from the EXOSAT data. Our calculations suggest that the neutron star in Cygnus X-2 rotates close to the centrifugal mass-shed limit. Possible constraints on the neutron star equation of state are also discussed.

CLC][ITAL]r[/ITAL][/CLC]-Mode Runaway and Rapidly Rotating Neutron Stars

We present a simple spin-evolution model that predicts that rapidly rotating accreting neutron stars will be confined mainly to a narrow range of spin frequencies: P=1.5-5 ms. This is in agreement with current observations of neutron stars in both the low-mass X-ray binaries and the millisecond radio pulsars. The main ingredients in the model are (1) the instability of r-modes above a critical spin rate, (2) the thermal runaway that is due to the heat released as viscous damping mechanisms counteract the r-mode growth, and (3) a revised estimate of the strength of the dissipation that is due to the presence of a viscous boundary layer at the base of the crust in an old and relatively cold neutron star. We discuss the gravitational waves that are radiated during the brief r-mode-driven spin-down phase. We also briefly touch on how the new estimates affect the predicted initial spin periods of hot young neutron stars.

A General Relativistic Calculation of Boundary Layer and Disc Luminosity for Accreting Non-magnetic Neutron Stars in Rapid Rotation

We calculate the disc and boundary layer luminosities for accreting rapidly rotating neutron stars with low magnetic fields in a fully general relativistic manner. Rotation increases the disc luminosity and decreases the boundary layer luminosity. A rapid rotation of the neutron star substantially modifies these quantities as compared with the static limit. For a neutron star rotating close to the centrifugal mass shed limit, the total luminosity has contribution only from the extended disc. For such maximal rotation rates, we find that well before the maximum stable gravitational mass configuration is reached, there exists a limiting central density, for which particles in the innermost stable orbit will be more tightly bound than those at the surface of the neutron star. We also calculate the angular velocity profiles of particles in Keplerian orbits around the rapidly rotating neutron star. The results are illustrated for a representative set of equation of state models of neutron star matter.

Effects of the Quadrupole Moment of Rapidly Rotating Neutron Stars on the Motion of the Accretion Disks

We investigate the effects of the quadrupole moment of rapidly rotating neutron stars (NSs) on the motion of the accretion disks. The geometry outside rapidly rotating NSs does not agree with that of Kerr black holes, so that we must correctly take into account the quadrupole moment (and the higher multipole moments) of NS, which depends on their equation of state. We show that the magnitude of the quadrupole dependent term appearing in several orbital frequencies is comparable to that of the spin-orbit (SO) coupling term for orbits near the surface of rapidly rotating NSs, and effects of the quadrupole moment largely suppress the SO coupling effect. Observations of the low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) with the Rossi X-ray

Estimating the effect of intermediate-range forces on the mass of rapidly-rotating neutron stars

Intermediate-range gravitational forces have been predicted by certain grand unified theories. If such forces exist, they would naturally affect the structure of neutron stars. Here, a simple rotating neutron star model is constructed which, under fairly mild assumptions, can be integrated exactly for the pressure. According to this model, the effect on neutron star masses by intermediate range forces is negligible, except when the range approaches the radius of the star and the coupling constant is close to the usual gravitation constant. In addition, extremely short range forces can be shown to have negligible effect, even when the coupling constant is many orders of magnitude greater thanG. Thus, there appears to be little hope of using neutron star mass measurements to test such grand unified theories.