Teorico

Secular instabilities in neutron stars

by Pantelis Pnigouras (Southampton University)

Europe/Rome
Aula Careri (Dipartimento di Fisica - Ed. G.Marconi)

Aula Careri

Dipartimento di Fisica - Ed. G.Marconi

Description

= As opposed to dynamical instabilities, secular instabilities describe the slow exponential growth of a perturbation due to the presence of a dissipation mechanism. We will see how they are related to an old problem, regarding the shape of the Earth, and review their manifestation in neutron stars. We will focus on the secular instability driven by gravitational-wave emission, which can be used to derive information about the largely unknown neutron star interior composition, as well as provide an explanation for some long-standing problems of pulsar observations. Finally, we will present a recent study, according to which this instability affects the evolution of neutron star binaries.

 

Organised by

Paolo Pani