Dr. Andrew Cumming
McGill

University of Florida Astronomy Colloquium - Mar 22nd, 2006

Probing Neutron Stars with Thermonuclear Flashes

Neutron stars are important as laboratories for testing the physics of matter under extreme conditions of density, temperature, gravity, and magnetism, and also as an endpoint of stellar evolution. Our understanding of these objects has improved dramatically over the last few years, driven by new observational discoveries. In this talk, I first review this progress, and then focus on the fate of material accreted onto a neutron star in a low mass X-ray binary. This material periodically ignites and burns in a thermonuclear runaway, rendering the neutron star visible for tens of seconds each day, and offering a brief but recurring chance to probe the neutron star directly. I will describe what we've learned about the neutron stars in these systems: their spin, magnetic field, and the composition and thermal properties of the interior.