INCOMMENSURATE CRYSTALLIZATION OF NEUTRON MATTER IN NEUTRON STARS

Abstract

The composition of the neutron stars from its surface region, outer-core, inner-core, and to its center is still being investigated. One can only surmise on the properties of neutron stars from the spectroscopic data that may be available from time to time. A few models have suggested that the matter at the surface region of the neutron star is composed of atomic nuclei that get crushed under extremely large pressure and gravitational stress, and this leads to the creation of solid lattice with a sea of electrons, and perhaps some protons, flowing through the gaps between them. Nuclei with high mass numbers, such as ferrous, gold, platinum, uranium, may exist in the surface region or in the outer-core region. It is found that the structure of the neutron star changes very much as one goes from the surface to the core of the neutron star. The surface region is extremely hard and very smooth. Surface irregularities are hardly of the order of 5 mm, whereas the interior of the neutron star may be superfluid and composed of neutron-degenerate matter. However, the neutron star is highly compact crystalline systems, and in terrestrial materials under pressure, many examples of incommensurate phase transitions have been discovered. Consequently, the properties of incommensurate crystalline neutron star have been studied. The composition of the neutron stars in the super dense state remains uncertain in the core of the neutron star. One model describes the core as superfluid neutron-degenerate matter, mostly, composed of neutrons 90% , and a small percentage of protons and electrons  10% . More exotic forms of matter are possible, including degenerate strange matter. It could also be incommensurate crystalline neutron matter that could be BCC or HCP. Using principles of quantum statistical mechanics, the specific heat and entropy of the incommensurate crystalline neutron star has been calculated assuming that the temperature of the star may vary between 106K to 1012K . Two values for the temperature T that have been arbitrarily chosen for which the calculations have been done are 6 1.7 10 K  and 10 1.7 10 K  . The values of specific heat and entropy decrease as the temperature increases, and also, their magnitudes are very small. This is in line with the second law of thermodynamics.