2024/10/24 by J. A. Morales, C. J. Horowitz, Morales, J. A. +1 · 3 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Physics and Astronomy · #Astro and Planetary Science #FOS: Physical sciences #General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc) #Geophysics and Gravity Measurements #High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE) #Nuclear Theory (nucl-th) #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2410.19111
openalex publication_date 2024/10/24 · openalex created_date 2024/11/13 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Neutron stars are not observed to spin faster than about half their breakup rate. This limiting rotational frequency may be related to the strength of their crusts. As a star spins up from accretion, centrifugal forces stress the crust. We perform finite-element simulations of rotating neutron stars and find that the crust fails at rotation rates about half the breakup rate. Given uncertainties in microphysics, we have not determined the crust configuration after this failure. Instead, we argue that the crust may fail in an asymmetric way and could produce a configuration with a significant ellipticity (fractional difference in moments of inertia). If the ellipticity is large, a rotating star will radiate gravitational waves that may limit further spin up. These stars may be promising sources for LIGO / VIRGO and next generation gravitational wave detectors.