arXiv · 1804.04952
Crust breaking and the limiting rotational frequency of neutron stars
Abstract
The limiting rotational frequency of neutron stars may be determined by the strength of their crusts. As a star spins up from accretion, centrifugal forces will cause the crust to fail. If the crust breaks unevenly, a rotating mass quadrupole moment will radiate gravitational waves (GW). This radiation can prevent further spin up and may be a promising source for continuous GW searches. We calculate that for a breaking strain (strength) of neutron star crust that is consistent with molecular dynamics simulations, the crust may fail at rotational frequencies in agreement with observations.
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F. J. Fattoyev, C. J. Horowitz, Hao Lu. 2018-04-10. Crust breaking and the limiting rotational frequency of neutron stars. https://arxiv.org/abs/1804.04952
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