Neutron Stars and Black Holes - Recycled Pulsars - Lecture 10

Explore the fascinating world of recycled pulsars in this comprehensive lecture from the "Neutron Stars and Black Holes" summer course. Delve into the Hulse-Taylor binary pulsar system, understand the process of spinning up neutron stars, and examine the concept of equilibrium period. Learn about the Alfven radius, accretion disks, and the Eddington luminosity limit. Investigate the origin and evolution of magnetic fields in neutron stars, including field decay mechanisms and the role of superfluidity and superconductivity in the core. Discover the importance of Feynman vortices and their interaction with magnetic flux tubes. Gain insights into the factors determining field decay in recycled pulsars and explore their population distribution. The lecture concludes with a preview of millisecond pulsars and includes a Q&A session, providing a comprehensive understanding of these fascinating astronomical objects.

Time: AM
Neutron Stars and Black Holes Lecture - 10: Recycled Pulsars
Recycled Pulsars
The HULSE-TAYLOR Pulsar
Hulse-Taylor Binary Pulsar
Massive Binary
Spinning up a neutron star
What will be the period of rotation of the first-born neutron star after the spin up phase is over?
The Equilibrium Period
Alfven Radius
Accretion disk
Question: For a given magnetic field, can we spin up a neutron star to arbitrarily small period?
Eddington Luminosity Limit
Eddington Limit for the Accretion Rate
The Minimum Equilibrium Period
The Hulse-Taylor Binary Pulsar
Any viable theory of field evolution must explain the following questions
Origin of magnetic field of neutron stars
Field decay in Neutron Stars
Superfluid core
Type II superconductivity in the core
Type II proton superconductivity in the core
Feynman "Vortices" to the rescue!
The inter-pinning of the fluxoids and vortices
An important prediction
Recycled Pulsars
What determines the degree of field decay?
A Possible scenario
The population of Recycled Pulsars
Next Lecture - Millisecond Pulsars
Q&A