Pairing properties and specific heat of the inner crust of a neutron star

TL;DR

This paper studies how pairing correlations in the inner crust of neutron stars behave at different temperatures, focusing on their persistence, reentrance, and effects on specific heat using a specific Skyrme functional.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the temperature-dependent pairing properties and their influence on the thermodynamic behavior of neutron star crusts with the BSk21 functional.

Findings

Pairing correlations can persist or reenter at certain temperatures.

Reentrant pairing significantly affects the specific heat.

Results enhance understanding of neutron star crust thermodynamics.

Abstract

We investigate the pairing properties at finite temperature of the Wigner-Seitz cells in the inner crust of a neutron star obtained with the recent Brussels-Montreal Skyrme functional BSk21. In particular we analyze the phenomena of persistence and reentrance of pairing correlations and their impact on the specific heat in the low-density region of the inner crust.