Abstract
We calculate the rate of energy emission by bremsstrahlung of neutrino pairs by electrons moving in the crystalline lattice of ions in dense matter in the crust of a neutron star. Since the periodic potential in the solid gives rise to electronic band gaps which can be as large as about 1 MeV, it is necessary in estimating the bremsstrahlung rate at low temperatures to take into account band structure in detail. We find that, in the densest parts of the inner crust of a neutron star, neutrino emission at temperatures of about or less is much suppressed compared with earlier estimates that treated the electron-lattice interaction perturbatively, and conclude that neutrino pair bremsstrahlung by electrons in the crusts of neutron stars is much less important for neutron star thermal evolution than was previously thought.
- Received 11 July 1996
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.56.7548
©1997 American Physical Society