The Behavior of Matter under Extreme Conditions

F. Paerels (1); M. Mendez (2); M. Agueros (1); M. Baring (3); D.Barret; (4); S. Bhattacharyya (5); E. Cackett (6); J. Cottam (7); M. Diaz Trigo (8),; D. Fox (9); M. Garcia (10); E. Gotthelf (1); W. Hermsen (11); W. Ho (12); K.; Hurley (13); P. Jonker (11); A. Juett (7); P. Kaaret (14); O. Kargaltsev (9),; J. Lattimer (15); G. Matt (16); F. Ozel (17); G. Pavlov (9); R. Rutledge; (18); R. Smith (10); L. Stella (19); T. Strohmayer (7); H. Tananbaum (10); P.; Uttley (12); M. van Kerkwijk (20); M. Weisskopf (21); S. Zane (22) ((1); Columbia University; (2) University of Groningen; (3) Rice University; (4); CESR Toulouse; (5) Tata Institute of Fundamental Research; Mumbai; (6); University of Michigan; (7) NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; (8) European; Space Astronomy Centre; ESA; (9) Penn State University; (10); Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics; (11) SRON Netherlands Institute; for Space Research; (12) University of Southampton; (13) University of; California at Berkeley; (14) University of Iowa; (15) SUNY Stony Brook; (16); Universita degli Studi Roma Tre; (17) University of Arizona; (18) McGill; University; (19) Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma; (20) University of; Toronto; (21) NASA Marshall Space Flight Center; (22) Mullard Space Science; Laboratory)

arXiv:0904.0435·astro-ph.HE·April 3, 2009·5 cites

The Behavior of Matter under Extreme Conditions

F. Paerels (1), M. Mendez (2), M. Agueros (1), M. Baring (3), D.Barret, (4), S. Bhattacharyya (5), E. Cackett (6), J. Cottam (7), M. Diaz Trigo (8),, D. Fox (9), M. Garcia (10), E. Gotthelf (1), W. Hermsen (11), W. Ho (12), K., Hurley (13), P. Jonker (11), A. Juett (7)

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TL;DR

This paper explores the extreme physical conditions in neutron stars, where matter exhibits unique states governed by QCD and QED, providing rare opportunities to test fundamental physics theories beyond laboratory capabilities.

Contribution

It reviews the predicted states of matter and electromagnetic phenomena in neutron stars, highlighting their role as natural laboratories for extreme physics.

Findings

01

Neutron star cores reach densities several times nuclear density

02

Magnetic fields in neutron stars can exceed terrestrial laboratory fields by ten orders of magnitude

03

Quantum electrodynamics predicts vacuum birefringence in strong magnetic fields

Abstract

The cores of neutron stars harbor the highest matter densities known to occur in nature, up to several times the densities in atomic nuclei. Similarly, magnetic field strengths can exceed the strongest fields generated in terrestrial laboratories by ten orders of magnitude. Hyperon-dominated matter, deconfined quark matter, superfluidity, even superconductivity are predicted in neutron stars. Similarly, quantum electrodynamics predicts that in strong magnetic fields the vacuum becomes birefringent. The properties of matter under such conditions is governed by Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) and Quantum Electrodynamics (QED), and the close study of the properties of neutron stars offers the unique opportunity to test and explore the richness of QCD and QED in a regime that is utterly beyond the reach of terrestrial experiments. Experimentally, this is almost virgin territory.

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Taxonomy

TopicsPulsars and Gravitational Waves Research · Quantum and Classical Electrodynamics · Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena