2014/04/30 by Rachid Ouyed, Denis Leahy, D. A. Leahy +1
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Astrophysics #Cassiopeia A #Ejecta #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #Neutrino #Neutron star #Nuclear physics #Physics #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #Quark star #Strange matter #Supernova #Supernova remnant #astro-ph.HE
paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/1674-4527/15/4/003
Accepted for publication (RAA): 16 page, 2 figures, 1 table, extended discussions, updated (and added new relevant) references. Version to appear in Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics (RAA) journal
arxiv created 2014/08/15 · openalex publication_date 2015/03/31 · arxiv updated 2015/06/19 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We show that the explosive transition of the neutron star (NS) to a quark star (QS) (a Quark Nova) in Cassiopeia A (Cas A) a few days following the supernova (SN) proper can account for several of the puzzling kinematic and nucleosynthetic features that are observed. The observed decoupling between Fe and 44 Ti and the lack of Fe emission within 44 Ti regions is expected in the QN model owing to the spallation of the inner SN ejecta by relativistic QN neutrons. Our model predicts the 44 Ti to be more prominent to the NW of the central compact object (CCO) than in the SE and little of it along the NE-SW jets, in agreement with NuStar observations. Other intriguing features of Cas A are addressed, such as the lack of a pulsar wind nebula and the reported few percent drop in the CCO temperature over a period of 10 yr.