The Head-on Collision of a Neutron Star with a White Dwarf
Zong-kai Peng, He Gao, Xian-Fei Zhang

TL;DR
This paper investigates the physical processes and outcomes of head-on collisions between neutron stars and white dwarfs, exploring conditions for thermonuclear explosions and formation of Thorne-Zytkow-like objects.
Contribution
It provides a detailed analysis of collision outcomes for different WD types, identifying conditions for supernovae and exotic objects, which was not comprehensively studied before.
Findings
NS-WD collisions can trigger thermonuclear explosions under certain conditions.
Low-mass CO and ONe WDs can form Thorne-Zytkow-like objects if specific parameters are met.
Conditions for supernovae and TZlO formation depend on WD type and collision parameters.
Abstract
We have computed the physical processes involved in a head-on collision between a neutron star (NS) and a white dwarf (WD). The outcomes of such collisions vary depending on the mass and type of the WD. We have separately examined the dynamical processes for collisions between NSs and helium WDs (He-WDs), carbon-oxygen WDs (CO-WDs), and oxygen-neon WDs (ONe-WDs). We aim to investigate whether the collision can trigger a thermonuclear explosion of the WD, and if not, whether the NS can remain bound within the WD to form a Thorne-Zytkow-like object (TZlO). For a thermonuclear explosion to occur, at least two conditions must be satisfied: (i) the collision-induced temperature must reach the ignition threshold of the relevant nuclear reactions, and (ii) the burning material must remain in a degenerate state. For different types of WDs, there exist parameter ranges where both conditions are…
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Taxonomy
TopicsPulsars and Gravitational Waves Research · Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae · Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations
