Entrainment in Superfluid Neutron Star Crusts: Hydrodynamic Description and Microscopic Origin

Abstract

In spite of the absence of viscous drag, the neutron superfluid permeating the inner crust of a neutron star cannot flow freely, and is entrained by the nuclear lattice similarly to laboratory superfluid atomic gases in optical lattices. The role of entrainment on the neutron superfluid dynamics is reviewed. For this purpose, a minimal hydrodynamical model of superfluidity in neutron-star crusts is presented. This model relies on a fully four-dimensionally covariant action principle. The equivalence of this formulation with the more traditional approach is demonstrated. In addition, the different treatments of entrainment in terms of dynamical effective masses or superfluid density are clarified. The nuclear energy density functional theory employed for the calculations of all the necessary microscopic inputs is also reviewed, focusing on superfluid properties. In particular, the microscopic origin of entrainment and the different methods to estimate its importance are discussed.