Emerging Researchers National (ERN) Conference

nsf-logo[1]

  • About
    • About AAAS
    • About the NSF
    • About the Conference
    • Partners/Supporters
    • Project Team
  • Conference
  • Abstracts
    • Abstract Submission Process
    • Presentation Schedules
    • Abstract Submission Guidelines
    • Presentation Guidelines
    • Undergraduate Abstract Locator (2020)
    • Graduate Abstract Locator (2020)
    • Faculty Abstract Locator (2020)
  • Travel Awards
  • Resources
    • App
    • Award Winners
    • Code of Conduct-AAAS Meetings
    • Code of Conduct-ERN Conference
    • Conference Agenda
    • Conference Materials
    • Conference Program Books
    • ERN Photo Galleries
    • Events | Opportunities
    • Exhibitor Info
    • HBCU-UP/CREST PI/PD Meeting
    • In the News
    • NSF Harassment Policy
    • Plenary Session Videos
    • Professional Development
    • Science Careers Handbook
    • Additional Resources
    • Archives
  • Engage
    • Webinars
    • Video Contest
    • Video Contest Winners
    • ERN 10-Year Anniversary Videos
    • Plenary Session Videos
  • Contact Us

Deep Crustal Heating of Neutron Stars in an Accreting Binary

Undergraduate #81
Discipline: Physics
Subcategory: Astronomy and Astrophysics

Zachary Langford - Everett Community College


In the case of a neutron star in a binary system, the neutron star will accrete matter from its binary companion due to its immense gravity and close proximity. When this occurs, the accreted matter will form an accretion disk which will cause a torque on the magnetic field, decreasing the rotational period, and eventually fall onto the star and push the crust into the core of the star. The crust of the neutron star is in nuclear statistical equilibrium, but the new accreted matter will not be. This will cause the star to start producing heat due to the nuclear interactions in the newly accreted crust. The heat added from nuclear interactions depends on what interactions are happening which depends on the density the accreted matter reaches. Current calculations of this ‘deep crustal heating’ assume a fully accreted crust, meaning the initial crust of the star has been pushed down into the core and is now comprised completely of accreted matter. This does not fit with our observational data of certain accreting binary systems. The energy we observe is lower than we would expect. Since we know that accretion only happens about 1-10% of the time it is reasonable to say that the crust may not be fully accreted, but a combination of accreted matter and original crust. Using neutron star equations of state, that systematically span known uncertainties, we look at the magnetic field evolution, period, and depth of the accreted crust as a function of time the star has been accreting matter.

References: Haensel, P., Zdunik, J. L., A&A, 227 (1990). Wang, J., Zhang, C. M., Zhao, Y. H., Kojima, Y., Yin, H. X., Song, L. M., A&A, 526 (2011). Wijnads, R., Degenaar, N., Page, D., MNRAS, 432 (2013).

Funder Acknowledgement(s): This work was done as a part of the REU program in Physics and Astronomy at Texas A&M - Commerce funded by the National Science Foundation under grant no. PHY-1359409.

Faculty Advisor: William Newton, william.newton@tamuc.edu

Role: I created and used computer models of the period evolution and the deep crustal heating, as well as generated a number of equations of state using various Skyrme models and programs written by William Newton.

ERN Conference

The 2022 ERN Conference has been postponed.

Full Notice

What’s New

  • Congratulations to Zakiya Wilson-Kennedy on her 2021 AAAS Fellowship
  • Event Vaccination and Liability Policy
  • Webinars
  • Events|Opportunities
  • AAAS CEO Comments on Social Unrest, Racism, and Inequality
  • Maintaining Accessibility in Online Teaching During COVID-19
  • In the News
  • HBCU/CREST PI/PD Meeting

Conference Photos

ERN Conference Photo Galleries

Awards

ERN Conference Award Winners

Checking In

nsf-logo[1]

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under Grant No. DUE-1930047. Any opinions, findings, interpretations, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of its authors and do not represent the views of the AAAS Board of Directors, the Council of AAAS, AAAS’ membership or the National Science Foundation.

AAAS

1200 New York Ave, NW Washington,DC 20005
202-326-6400
Contact Us
About Us

The World's Largest General Scientific Society

Useful Links

  • Membership
  • Careers at AAAS
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use

Focus Areas

  • Science Education
  • Science Diplomacy
  • Public Engagement
  • Careers in STEM

 

  • Shaping Science Policy
  • Advocacy for Evidence
  • R&D Budget Analysis
  • Human Rights, Ethics & Law
© 2022 American Association for the Advancement of Science