Neutron Stars as Probes of Fundamental Physics

物理学和致密天体物理学中许多基本问题的答案取决于准确确定中子星的质量和半径。该项目将为准确测量中子星星质量及其状态方程和探测中子星星时空奠定理论基础。Ozel博士和学生将通过主要的计算解决（i）爱丁顿极限对中子星星自旋和发射辐射的几何形状的依赖性，（ii）在非相干散射占主导地位的高温下爆发的弱磁性中子星的发射光谱，和（iii）对发射面积和由旋转中子星的复度规引起的红移谱线轮廓的修正。通过将理论工作与快速旋转，高度相对论和吸积中子星的X射线观测进行直接比较，这项研究将回答紧凑物体天体物理学，引力物理学和量子色动力学中的几个突出问题。要解决的主要问题包括补充早期宇宙研究的量子色动相图区域中的物质状态，以及通过建立质量-自旋相关性来评估作为重力波源的吸积中子星。通过这项工作，亚利桑那大学的研究生将接受天体物理学和引力物理学理论和计算工作的培训。Ozel博士将把这项工作的成果纳入她不断扩大的公共宣传工作中，通过公共电视节目、新闻采访和公开演讲来普及中子星和黑洞。

The answers to numerous fundamental problems in physics and compact object astrophysics depends on accurately determining the masses and radii of neutron stars. This project will lay the theoretical foundations for accurately measuring neutron star masses, as well as their equations of state and for probing neutron star spacetimes. Dr. Ozel and students will address through major computational calculations (i) the dependence of the Eddington limit on the neutron star spin and the geometry of the emitted radiation, (ii) the emission spectra of bursting, weakly magnetic neutron stars at high temperatures where non-coherent scattering is dominant, and (iii) the corrections to the emitting area and to redshifted line profiles arising from the complex metric of rotating neutron stars. By directly comparing the theoretical work to X-ray observations of rapidly-rotating, highly relativistic and accreting neutron stars, this research will answer several outstanding questions in compact object astrophysics, gravitational physics, and quantum chromodynamics. Major questions to be addressed include the state of matter in regions of the quantum chromodynamic phase diagram that complement the early universe studies and an assessment of accreting neutron stars as gravity wave sources by establishing mass-spin correlations. Through this work, graduate students at the University of Arizona will be trained in theoretical and computational work in astrophysics and gravitational physics. Dr. Ozel will include the results of this work in her expanding public outreach efforts which popularize neutron stars and black holes through public television programs, press interviews, and public talks.