The Electromagnetic Spectrum of Neutron Stars

The Electromagnetic Spectrum of Neutron Stars
Author: Altan Baykal
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 383
Release: 2006-01-20
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1402038615

Neutron stars hold a central place in astrophysics, not only because they are made up of the most extreme states of the condensed matter, but also because they are, along with white dwarfs and black holes, one of the stable configurations that stars reach at the end of stellar evolution. Neutron stars posses the highest rotation rates and strongest magnetic fields among all stars. They radiate prolifically, in high energy electromagnetic radiation and in the radio band. This book is devoted to the selected lectures presented in the 6th NATO-ASI series entitled "The Electromagnetic Spectrum of Neutron Stars" in Marmaris, Turkey, on 7-18 June 2004. This ASI is devoted to the spectral properties of neutron stars. Spectral observations of neutron stars help us to understand the magnetospheric emission processes of isolated radio pulsars and the emission processes of accreting neutron stars. This volume includes spectral information from the neutron stars in broadest sense, namely neutrino and gravitational radiation along with the electromagnetic spectrum. We believe that this volume can serve as graduate level of text including the broad range of properties of neutron stars.

Neutron Stars and Pulsars (IAU S291)

Neutron Stars and Pulsars (IAU S291)
Author: Joeri van Leeuwen
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 520
Release: 2013-04-25
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9781107033801

IAU Symposium 291 features a rich harvest of recent scientific discoveries and looks forward to the many exciting avenues for future neutron-star research. The volume starts with general, lively, comprehensive introductions to three main themes that successfully communicate the excitement of current pulsar research. The subsequent reviews and contributions on hot topics cover: ongoing searches for pulsars, both radio and gamma-ray; neutron star formation and properties; binary pulsars; pulsar timing and tests of gravitational theories; magnetars; radio transients; radio, X-ray and gamma-ray pulse properties and emission mechanisms; and future facilities. This range of topics clearly illustrates the diverse nature and wide application of neutron-star research. Through a combination of introductory reviews and practically complete coverage of current results from across the electromagnetic spectrum, IAU S291 is the perfect reference for neutron-star researchers and also provides an excellent read for advanced undergraduate and starting graduate students.

Binary Neutron Star Mergers and Electromagnetic Counterparts$h

Binary Neutron Star Mergers and Electromagnetic Counterparts$h
Author: Vsevolod Nedora
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2022*
Genre:
ISBN:

In August 2017, a merger of two neutron stars (NSs) was detected for the first time via several carriers. Observed in gravitational waves, as well as in the electromagnetic spectrum, the GW170817 marked the dawn of multi-messenger astronomy for compact object mergers, and shed light on numerous astrophysical aspects of binary neutron star (BNS) mergers and on the properties of matter at supranuclear densities. And yet many questions remain, starting with the outcome of the merger. Was it a massive NS temporarily supported against collapse, or a black hole? How important are BNS mergers in cosmic chemical evolution, i.e., the evolution of spatial and temporal distributions of heavy elements in galaxies? It is known that they enrich their surroundings with very heavy elements, but are they the dominant source of these elements? Modeling these events on the computer, do we understand them correctly, i.e., do our predictions regarding the properties of the ejected matter and its EM signatures agree with the newly gained data? This thesis is dedicated to addressing these questions by means of analyzing a large set of numerical simulations of BNS mergers, performed with state-of-the-art numerical tools, and targeted specifically to GW170817. Employing a suite of postprocessing tools we study the matter dynamics. Special attention is given to matter, ejected from the system during and after merger, so-called ejecta. With the help of a parameterized nucleosynthesis model, we study the final abundances of heavy elements in ejecta, comparing them to solar abundances. Furthermore, we investigate EM emission, powered by the decay of newly synthesized heavy elements, comparing it to the observations of GW170817. Finally, we study the long-term emission of the ejected material as it propagates through the interstellar medium (ISM), via our new numerical tools, comparing the results with a recently detected change in the emission from GW170817.

Theory of Neutron Star Magnetospheres

Theory of Neutron Star Magnetospheres
Author: F. Curtis Michel
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 548
Release: 1991
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9780226523316

An incomparable reference for astrophysicists studying pulsars and other kinds of neutron stars, Theory of Neutron Star Magnetospheres sums up two decades of astrophysical research. It provides in one volume the most important findings to date on this topic, essential to astrophysicists faced with a huge and widely scattered literature. F. Curtis Michel, who was among the first theorists to propose a neutron star model for radio pulsars, analyzes competing models of pulsars, radio emission models, winds and jets from pulsars, pulsating X-ray sources, gamma-ray burst sources, and other neutron-star driven phenomena. Although the book places primary emphasis on theoretical essentials, it also provides a considerable introduction to the observational data and its organization. Michel emphasizes the problems and uncertainties that have arisen in the research as well as the considerable progress that has been made to date.

Neutron Stars and Pulsars

Neutron Stars and Pulsars
Author: Werner Becker
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 702
Release: 2009-02-11
Genre: Science
ISBN: 354076965X

Neutron stars are the most compact astronomical objects in the universe which are accessible by direct observation. Studying neutron stars means studying physics in regimes unattainable in any terrestrial laboratory. Understanding their observed complex phenomena requires a wide range of scientific disciplines, including the nuclear and condensed matter physics of very dense matter in neutron star interiors, plasma physics and quantum electrodynamics of magnetospheres, and the relativistic magneto-hydrodynamics of electron-positron pulsar winds interacting with some ambient medium. Not to mention the test bed neutron stars provide for general relativity theories, and their importance as potential sources of gravitational waves. It is this variety of disciplines which, among others, makes neutron star research so fascinating, not only for those who have been working in the field for many years but also for students and young scientists. The aim of this book is to serve as a reference work which not only reviews the progress made since the early days of pulsar astronomy, but especially focuses on questions such as: "What have we learned about the subject and how did we learn it?", "What are the most important open questions in this area?" and "What new tools, telescopes, observations, and calculations are needed to answer these questions?". All authors who have contributed to this book have devoted a significant part of their scientific careers to exploring the nature of neutron stars and understanding pulsars. Everyone has paid special attention to writing educational comprehensive review articles with the needs of beginners, students and young scientists as potential readers in mind. This book will be a valuable source of information for these groups.

Neutron Stars, Black Holes, and Gravitational Waves

Neutron Stars, Black Holes, and Gravitational Waves
Author: James J Kolata
Publisher: Morgan & Claypool Publishers
Total Pages: 51
Release: 2019-05-09
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1643274228

Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, published in 1915, made a remarkable prediction: gravitational radiation. Just like light (electromagnetic radiation), gravity could travel through space as a wave and affect any objects it encounters by alternately compressing and expanding them. However, there was a problem. The force of gravity is around a trillion, trillion, trillion times weaker than electromagnetism so the calculated compressions and expansions were incredibly small, even for gravity waves resulting from a catastrophic astrophysical event such as a supernova explosion in our own galaxy. Discouraged by this result, physicists and astronomers didn't even try to detect these tiny, tiny effects for over 50 years. Then, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, two events occurred which started the hunt for gravity waves in earnest. The first was a report of direct detection of gravity waves thousands of times stronger than even the most optimistic calculation. Though ultimately proved wrong, this result started scientists thinking about what instrumentation might be necessary to detect these waves. The second was an actual, though indirect, detection of gravitational radiation due to the effects it had on the period of rotation of two 'neutron stars' orbiting each other. In this case, the observations were in exact accord with predictions from Einstein's theory, which confirmed that a direct search might ultimately be successful. Nevertheless, it took another 40 years of development of successively more sensitive detectors before the first real direct effects were observed in 2015, 100 years after gravitational waves were first predicted. This is the story of that hunt, and the insight it is producing into an array of topics in modern science, from the creation of the chemical elements to insights into the properties of gravity itself.

Binary Neutron Star Mergers and Electromagnetic Counterparts$h

Binary Neutron Star Mergers and Electromagnetic Counterparts$h
Author: Vsevolod Nedora
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2022*
Genre:
ISBN:

In August 2017, a merger of two neutron stars (NSs) was detected for the first time via several carriers. Observed in gravitational waves, as well as in the electromagnetic spectrum, the GW170817 marked the dawn of multi-messenger astronomy for compact object mergers, and shed light on numerous astrophysical aspects of binary neutron star (BNS) mergers and on the properties of matter at supranuclear densities. And yet many questions remain, starting with the outcome of the merger. Was it a massive NS temporarily supported against collapse, or a black hole? How important are BNS mergers in cosmic chemical evolution, i.e., the evolution of spatial and temporal distributions of heavy elements in galaxies? It is known that they enrich their surroundings with very heavy elements, but are they the dominant source of these elements? Modeling these events on the computer, do we understand them correctly, i.e., do our predictions regarding the properties of the ejected matter and its EM signatures agree with the newly gained data? This thesis is dedicated to addressing these questions by means of analyzing a large set of numerical simulations of BNS mergers, performed with state-of-the-art numerical tools, and targeted specifically to GW170817. Employing a suite of postprocessing tools we study the matter dynamics. Special attention is given to matter, ejected from the system during and after merger, so-called ejecta. With the help of a parameterized nucleosynthesis model, we study the final abundances of heavy elements in ejecta, comparing them to solar abundances. Furthermore, we investigate EM emission, powered by the decay of newly synthesized heavy elements, comparing it to the observations of GW170817. Finally, we study the long-term emission of the ejected material as it propagates through the interstellar medium (ISM), via our new numerical tools, comparing the results with a recently detected change in the emission from GW170817.

Isolated Neutron Stars: From the Surface to the Interior

Isolated Neutron Stars: From the Surface to the Interior
Author: Silvia Zane
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 654
Release: 2007-05-22
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1402059981

This book is a collation of the contributions presented at a major conference on isolated neutron stars held in London in April 2006. Forty years after the discovery of radio pulsars it presents an up-to-date description of the new vision of isolated neutron stars that has emerged in recent years. The great variety of isolated neutron stars, from pulsars to magnetars, is well covered by descriptions of recent observational results and presentations of the latest theoretical interpretation of these data.

Essential Radio Astronomy

Essential Radio Astronomy
Author: James J. Condon
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 376
Release: 2016-04-05
Genre: Science
ISBN: 069113779X

The ideal text for a one-semester course in radio astronomy Essential Radio Astronomy is the only textbook on the subject specifically designed for a one-semester introductory course for advanced undergraduates or graduate students in astronomy and astrophysics. It starts from first principles in order to fill gaps in students' backgrounds, make teaching easier for professors who are not expert radio astronomers, and provide a useful reference to the essential equations used by practitioners. This unique textbook reflects the fact that students of multiwavelength astronomy typically can afford to spend only one semester studying the observational techniques particular to each wavelength band. Essential Radio Astronomy presents only the most crucial concepts—succinctly and accessibly. It covers the general principles behind radio telescopes, receivers, and digital backends without getting bogged down in engineering details. Emphasizing the physical processes in radio sources, the book's approach is shaped by the view that radio astrophysics owes more to thermodynamics than electromagnetism. Proven in the classroom and generously illustrated throughout, Essential Radio Astronomy is an invaluable resource for students and researchers alike. The only textbook specifically designed for a one-semester course in radio astronomy Starts from first principles Makes teaching easier for astronomy professors who are not expert radio astronomers Emphasizes the physical processes in radio sources Covers the principles behind radio telescopes and receivers Provides the essential equations and fundamental constants used by practitioners Supplementary website includes lecture notes, problem sets, exams, and links to interactive demonstrations An online illustration package is available to professors