Phys. Rev. Lett. 83, 3362 - 3365 (1999)

Pulsar Constraints on Neutron Star Structure and Equation of State

Abstract

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Bennett Link ^*
Department of Physics, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana 59717

Richard I. Epstein ^†
Los Alamos National Laboratory, Mail Stop D436, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545

James M. Lattimer ^‡
Department of Physics and Astronomy, State University of New York, Stony Brook, New York 11974-3800

Received 6 May 1999

With the aim of constraining the structural properties of neutron stars and the equation of state of dense matter, we study sudden spin-ups, glitches, occurring in the Vela pulsar and in six other pulsars. We present evidence that glitches represent a self-regulating instability for which the star prepares over a waiting time. The angular momentum requirements of glitches in Vela indicate that ≥1.4% of the star's moment of inertia drives these events. If glitches originate in the liquid of the inner crust, Vela's “radiation radius” R_∞ must exceed ≃12 km for a mass of 1.4M_⊙. Observational tests of whether other neutron stars obey this constraint will be possible in the near future.

URL: http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v83/p3362
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.83.3362
PACS: 97.60.Jd, 26.60.+c, 97.60.Gb

^* Also at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM.Electronic address: blink@dante.physics.montana.edu
^† Electronic address: epstein@lanl.gov
^‡ Electronic address: lattimer@astro.sunysb.edu

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 83, 3362 - 3365 (1999)

Pulsar Constraints on Neutron Star Structure and Equation of State

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