Impact of r-modes on the cooling of neutron stars

TL;DR

This paper investigates how r-mode oscillations influence neutron star cooling, revealing that dissipative reheating effects can leave detectable thermal signatures long after the oscillations dampen, aiding in understanding stellar interior properties.

Contribution

It introduces a model for the impact of r-mode dissipative reheating on neutron star temperature evolution, highlighting potential observational signatures.

Findings

R-mode oscillations cause long-lasting reheating effects.

Detectable thermal traces of past r-mode activity are possible.

Impacts on neutron star cooling models are significant.

Abstract

Studying the frequency and temperature evolution of a compact star can give us valuable information about the microscopic properties of the matter inside the star. In this paper we study the effect of dissipative reheating of a neutron star due to r-mode oscillations on its temperature evolution. We find that there is still an impact of an r-mode phase on the temperature long after the star has left the instability region and the r-mode is damped completely. With accurate temperature measurements it may be possible to detect this trace of a previous r-mode phase in observed pulsars.