Effects of tangential velocity in the reactive relativistic Riemann problem

TL;DR

This paper explores how tangential velocity influences relativistic reactive waves, revealing that high tangential speeds can induce deflagration-to-detonation transitions, though such conditions are unlikely in neutron star oceans.

Contribution

It develops a numerical solver for the relativistic reactive Riemann problem and analyzes the impact of tangential velocity on wave transitions in relativistic flames.

Findings

High tangential velocities can trigger deflagration to detonation transitions.

Such transitions require velocities close to the speed of light.

In neutron star oceans, additional effects are needed for such transitions.

Abstract

Type I X-ray bursts are thermonuclear burning events which occur on the surfaces of accreting neutron stars. Burning begins in a localised spot in the star's ocean layer before propagating across the entire surface as a deflagration. On the scale of the entire star, the burning front can be thought of as discontinuity. To model this, we investigated the reactive Riemann problem for relativistic deflagrations and detonations and developed a numerical solver. Unlike for the Newtonian Riemann problem, where only the velocity perpendicular to the interface is relevant, in the relativistic case the tangential velocity becomes coupled through the Lorentz factor and can alter the waves present in the solution. We investigated whether a fast tangential velocity may be able to cause a deflagration wave to transition to a detonation. We found that such a transition is possible, but only for tangential velocities that are a significant fraction of the speed of light or for systems already on the verge of transitioning. Consequently, it is highly unlikely that this transition would occur for a burning front in a neutron star ocean without significant contributions from additional multidimensional effects.