Neutron Star Atmosphere–Ocean Dynamics

Autor: Joonas Nättilä, James Y-K. Cho, Jack W. Skinner, Elias R. Most, Bart Ripperda
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2024
Předmět:
Zdroj: The Astrophysical Journal, Vol 971, Iss 1, p 37 (2024)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1538-4357
DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ad54c2
Popis: We analyze the structure and dynamics of the plasma atmospheres and Coulomb-liquid oceans on neutron stars. Salient dynamical parameters are identified and their values estimated for the governing set of magnetohydrodynamics equations. Neutron star atmospheres and oceans are strongly stratified and, depending on the rotation period, contain a multitude of long-lived vortices (spots) and/or narrow zonal jets (free-shear zones) in the large plasma-beta regime—i.e., β _p ≫ 1 (hydrodynamic regime). In contrast, when β _p ≲ 1 (magnetohydrodynamic regime), the flow is dominated by a global lattice of effectively fixed magnetic islands (plasmoids) without any jets. Understanding the spatiotemporal variability of dynamic atmospheres and oceans on neutron stars is crucial for interpreting observations of their X-ray emissions.
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