NSSOLID · Study of neutron star crust with solid state theory
6РП — Действия „Мария Кюри“
- Период
- 2006-01-15 → 2008-01-14
- Финансиране от ЕС
- 136 649 €
- Участници
- 1
- Схема
- EIF
Линиите свързват координатора с партньорите.
Накратко на български
Външните слоеве на неутронните звезди се анализират чрез методи от физиката на твърдото тяло, подобно на начина, по който се изследват металите и полупроводниците. Това помага за създаването на по-точни модели на структурите в космоса, които не могат да бъдат репликирани в земни лаборатории.
Кратко обяснение, генерирано от езиков модел по текста на CORDIS. Оригиналът е по-долу.
Резултати накратко
Final Activity Report Summary - NSSOLID (Study of neutron star crust with solid state theory)
At the end point of stellar evolution, neutron stars are the remnants of the gravitational collapse of the core of massive stars in supernova explosions. With about one or twice the mass of the Sun compressed inside a radius of only 10 kilometres or so, neutron stars are among the most compact objects in the Universe. Many observed neutron star phenomena are intimately related to the physics of the solid outer layers. The solid crust of a neutron star spans a huge range of densities up to about hundred thousand billion times the density of ordinary matter. Modelling neutron star crusts is very challenging since such extreme conditions cannot be reached in terrestrial experiments. While the structure of the outer crust is rather well established, the composition and the properties of the inner layers remain uncertain due to the presence of an underground neutron ocean. For more than three decades, the theoretical description of neutron star inner crusts has relied on oversimplified models. By establishing a bridge between nuclear physics and solid state physics, the research project has lead to the development of realistic neutron star crust models. In particular, the band theory of solids, which has been already successfully applied to various situations (metals, semiconductors, photonic and phononic crystals, cold atoms in optical lattice, etc.), has been adapted for the first time to neutron star crusts. Following this new approach, numerical calculations of the structure and of the properties of neutron star crusts have been carried out, combining techniques from solid state physics and nuclear physics. This work is not only a major breakthrough in neutron star crust modelling but it has also lead to significant achievements in other research fields. One of the outcomes of the fruitful collaboration with the host institution is notably the development of the most reliable atomic mass model based on self-consistent mean field methods. Some of the results of the research project have been already presented at international conferences and have been published in international scientific journals.
Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз
Цел на проекта
The inner neutron star crust, composed of a lattice of nuclei immersed in a neutron superfluid, plays an important role in our understanding of many observational issues, such as pulsar glitches, thermal emission and cooling or gravitational wave instabili ties. The growing number of data in the whole electromagnetic spectrum and the imminent rising of the gravitational wave astronomy urge the need for a deep theoretical study of the neutron star crust. This is even more so as a detailed analysis of the crus t composition is essential to evaluate the possible contribution of neutron stars to the galactic enrichment in the so-called r-process nuclei, the origin of which remains one major mystery in nuclear astrophysics. Despite the close analogy between free ne utrons in the crust and free electrons in solids, solid state physics concepts have not yet permeated nuclear astrophysics. In particular, Bragg scattering, which is crucial for the understanding of transport properties, has been entirely neglected for mor e than three decades. The aim of the project is to change this situation by adapting to the nuclear context the band theory of solids, which has been very successful in describing electronic, photonic and phononic materials. We want to apply it to the stud y of neutron star crusts by solving the Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov equations. The Institut d'Astronomie et d'Astrophysique of the Universite Libre de Bruxelles is an ideal place to achieve this goal and to examine the astrophysics consequences of the emerging model. This institute is recognized worldwide as a center of excellence in nuclear astrophysics. It has a substantial expertise in the development of mean field models and of their application to a large variety of nuclear problems. This project, by estab lishing a bridge between nuclear and solid state physics, will open an entirely new field of nuclear astrophysics, namely neutronic" crystals, thus contributing to the European scientific excellence."
Оригинален текст от CORDIS (на английски).
Участници
- UNIVERSITE LIBRE DE BRUXELLES · BRUXELLESКоординаторБелгия
Връзки
Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз