Phase separation in the crust of accreting neutron stars

2007/03/31 by C. J. Horowitz, D. K. Berry, Don Berry +2 · 8 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Physics and Astronomy · #Astro and Planetary Science #Astrophysics #Chemical composition #Crust #Crystallization #Geology #Geophysics #High-pressure geophysics and materials #Neutron star #Phase (matter) #Physics #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #Thermodynamics #astro-ph #cond-mat.stat-mech #nucl-th

paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physreve.75.066101

published as Phys.Rev.E75:066101,2007 · 8 pages, 6 figures, minor changes, Physical Review E in press

arxiv created 2007/05/11 · openalex publication_date 2007/06/04 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

Nucleosynthesis, on the surface of accreting neutron stars, produces a range of chemical elements. We perform molecular dynamics simulations of crystallization to see how this complex composition forms new neutron star crust. We find chemical separation, with the liquid ocean phase greatly enriched in low atomic number elements compared to the solid crust. This phase separation should change many crust properties such as the thermal conductivity and shear modulus.

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• Three-dimensional Modeling of the Magnetothermal Evolution of Neutron Stars: Method and Test Cases