Rapid cooling of neutron star in Cassiopeia A and r-mode damping in the core

TL;DR

This paper proposes an alternative explanation for the rapid cooling of the neutron star in Cassiopeia A, suggesting it is in a recovery phase after r-mode heating, with potential observational differences from existing models.

Contribution

It introduces a new model based on differential rotation and recovery after r-mode heating, differing from previous neutron-superfluidity-triggering models.

Findings

The model predicts continued rapid cooling for decades.

Differences between models could be distinguished by future observations.

Supports the differential rotation and recovery hypothesis for neutron star cooling.

Abstract

We proposed alternative explanation to the rapid cooling of neutron star in Cas A. It is suggested that the star is experiencing the recovery period following the r-mode heating process,assuming the star is differentially rotating. Like the neutron-superfluidity-triggering model, our model predicts the rapid cooling will continue for several decades. However, the behavior of the two models has slight differences, and they might be distinguished by observations in the near future.