Some Thermodynamic Problems of Neutron Stars

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The idea that highly condensed stars too massive to become white dwarfs could exist as solid "neutron stars" was first advanced by J. Robert Oppenheimer in 1939. Since that time the idea that supernovae nuclei collapse directly into neutron stars (sometimes in a rotating, magnetized form called "pulsars") is now widely accepted. Despite this progress, rather little is understood about their radiation and internal structural properties. Such phenomena as "star quakes" in pulsars suggest that the there are at least two of neutrons consisting of a liquid core and a solid "crust". The Principal Investigator (PI) will study a variety of topics dealing with the interiors of neutron stars, including the transport of radiation from their interior to the surface, and vice versa just after a supernovae explosion, which can be used to make predictions that can be matched with observations, either from the ground or from X-ray detectors on spacecraft. She will include modern "equation of state" microphysics into these calculations and will determine what effects magnetic fields and exotic particles called "WIMPS" have on these models. This work coincides with the expected detection of the nucleus of the supernova in the Magellanic Cloud, SN1987a, which should become visible shortly as emission from the exploding ejecta becomes faint. It is anticipated that the detection (and even non-detection) of this remnant will elucidate which of various competing physical processes are important in neutron stars. The work supported by this award should play a key part in this understanding.