Rapid Cooling of the Neutron Star in Cassiopeia A Triggered by Neutron Superfluidity in Dense Matter

Dany Page (1) , Madappa Prakash (2) , James M. Lattimer (3) , Andrew W. Steiner (4) ((1) Instituto de Astronomia , Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico , (2) Department of Physics , Astrononmy , Ohio University (3) Department of Physics

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Astronomy State University of New York at Stony Brook (4) Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory Department of Physics Michigan State University)

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classification 🌌 astro-ph.HE nucl-th

keywords neutroncoolingstarcassiopeiacriticalobservedtemperaturealready

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We propose that the observed cooling of the neutron star in Cassiopeia A is due to enhanced neutrino emission from the recent onset of the breaking and formation of neutron Cooper pairs in the 3P2 channel. We find that the critical temperature for this superfluid transition is ~0.5x10^9 K. The observed rapidity of the cooling implies that protons were already in a superconducting state with a larger critical temperature. Our prediction that this cooling will continue for several decades at the present rate can be tested by continuous monitoring of this neutron star.

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