Superfluid Spin-up: 3D Simulations of Post-Glitch Dynamics in Neutron Star Cores

TL;DR

This study uses 3D hydrodynamical simulations to explore post-glitch spin-up dynamics in neutron star cores, focusing on viscous and mutual friction effects, revealing complex interactions between superfluid and normal components.

Contribution

First non-linear 3D simulations of neutron star core spin-up solving full HVBK equations, analyzing mutual friction and viscous effects on superfluid-normal fluid dynamics.

Findings

Viscous component accelerates via Ekman pumping.

Mutual friction alters superfluid spin-up dynamics.

Superfluid responds differently at various depths within the sphere.

Abstract

The dynamics of a neutron star after a glitch involve the transfer of angular momentum from the crust (where the glitch is presumed to originate) to the liquid core, causing the core to spin up. The crust-core coupling, which determines how quickly this spin-up proceeds, can be achieved through various physical processes, including Ekman pumping, superfluid vortex-mediated mutual friction, and magnetic fields. Although the complex nature of these mechanisms has made it difficult to study their combined effects, analytical estimations for individual processes reveal that spin-up timescales vary according to the relative strength of Coriolis, viscous, and mutual friction forces, as well as the magnetic field. However, experimental and numerical validations of those analytical predictions are limited. In this paper, we focus on viscous effects and mutual friction. We conduct non-linear hydrodynamical simulations of the spin-up problem in a two-component fluid by solving the incompressible Hall-Vinen-Bekarevich-Khalatnikov (HVBK) equations in the full sphere (i.e., including $r=0$) for the first time. We find that the viscous (normal) component accelerates due to Ekman pumping, although the mutual friction coupling to the superfluid component alters the spin-up dynamics compared to the single-fluid scenario. Close to the sphere's surface, the response of the superfluid is accurately described by the mutual friction timescale irrespective of its coupling strength with the normal component. However, as we move deeper into the sphere, the superfluid accelerates on different timescales due to the slow viscous spin-up of the internal normal fluid layers. We discuss potential implications for neutron stars and requirements for future work to build more realistic models.