Open AccessPycnonuclear burning of 34 Ne in accreting neutron stars
Author(s) -
Yakovlev D. G.,
Gasques L.,
Wiescher M.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.058
H-Index - 383
eISSN - 1365-2966
pISSN - 0035-8711
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2006.10753.x
Subject(s) - physics , neutron star , accretion (finance) , astrophysics , crust , millisecond , stars , astronomy , geophysics
We study the pycnonuclear burning of 34 Ne in the inner crust of an accreting neutron star. We show that the associated energy production rate can be calculated analytically for any arbitrary temporal variability of the mass accretion rate. We argue that the theoretical time‐scale for 34 Ne burning is currently very uncertain and ranges from a fraction of a millisecond to a few years. The fastest allowable burning may change the composition of the accreted crust while the slowest burning leads to a time‐independent nuclear energy generation rate for a variable accretion. The results are important for constructing self‐consistent models of the accreted crust and deep crustal heating in neutron stars which enter soft X‐ray transients.