A new mechanism for saturating unstable r modes in neutron stars
A new mechanism for saturating unstable r modes in neutron stars
We consider a new mechanism for damping the oscillations of a mature neutron star. The new dissipation channel arises if superfluid vortices are forced to cut through superconducting flux tubes. This mechanism is interesting because the oscillation modes need to exceed a critical amplitude in order for it to operate. Once it acts, the effect is very strong (and non-linear) leading to efficient damping. The upshot of this is that modes are unlikely to ever evolve far beyond the critical amplitude. We consider the effect of this new dissipation channel on the r modes, which may be driven unstable by the emission of gravitational waves. Our estimates show that the flux tube cutting leads to a saturation threshold for the instability that can be smaller than that of other proposed mechanisms. This suggests that the idea may be of direct astrophysical relevance.
1662
Haskell, B.
a3c09067-6932-45cc-902d-3b7117ec848d
Glampedakis, Kostas
a08893ef-dd87-4ccb-9d65-3fd6c40fccca
Andersson, Nils
2dd6d1ee-cefd-478a-b1ac-e6feedafe304
June 2014
Haskell, B.
a3c09067-6932-45cc-902d-3b7117ec848d
Glampedakis, Kostas
a08893ef-dd87-4ccb-9d65-3fd6c40fccca
Andersson, Nils
2dd6d1ee-cefd-478a-b1ac-e6feedafe304
Haskell, B., Glampedakis, Kostas and Andersson, Nils
(2014)
A new mechanism for saturating unstable r modes in neutron stars.
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 441 (2), .
(doi:10.1093/mnras/stu535).
Abstract
We consider a new mechanism for damping the oscillations of a mature neutron star. The new dissipation channel arises if superfluid vortices are forced to cut through superconducting flux tubes. This mechanism is interesting because the oscillation modes need to exceed a critical amplitude in order for it to operate. Once it acts, the effect is very strong (and non-linear) leading to efficient damping. The upshot of this is that modes are unlikely to ever evolve far beyond the critical amplitude. We consider the effect of this new dissipation channel on the r modes, which may be driven unstable by the emission of gravitational waves. Our estimates show that the flux tube cutting leads to a saturation threshold for the instability that can be smaller than that of other proposed mechanisms. This suggests that the idea may be of direct astrophysical relevance.
More information
Published date: June 2014
Organisations:
Applied Mathematics
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Local EPrints ID: 408840
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/408840
ISSN: 1365-2966
PURE UUID: d94134db-12c4-46d8-9c6e-a9a18958ea33
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Date deposited: 28 May 2017 04:03
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 03:02
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Author:
B. Haskell
Author:
Kostas Glampedakis
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