2001/08/10 by J. D. Salmonson, Jay D. Salmonson, J. R. Wilson +1 · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Annihilation #Astrophysics #Binary number #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #Neutrino #Neutrino Physics Research #Neutrino oscillation #Neutron star #Nuclear physics #Nucleosynthesis #Particle physics #Physics #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #Solar neutrino #Solar neutrino problem #Stars #X-ray binary #astro-ph #r-process
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/323319
published as Astrophys.J. 561 (2001) 950-956 · 15 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal
arxiv created 2001/08/10 · openalex publication_date 2001/11/10 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We calculate the neutrino pair annihilation rate into electron pairs between two neutron stars in a binary system. We present a closed formula for the energy deposition rate at any point between the stars, where each neutrino of a pair derives from each star, and compare this result with that in which all neutrinos derive from a single neutron star. An approximate generalization of this formula is given to include the relativistic effects of gravity. We find that this interstar neutrino annihilation is a significant contributor to the energy deposition between heated neutron star binaries. In particular, for two neutron stars near their last stable orbit, interstar neutrino annihilation energy deposition is almost equal to that of single-star energy deposition.