Neutron Star Atmosphere-Ocean Dynamics

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: Nättilä, Joonas, Cho, James Y-K., Skinner, Jack W., Most, Elias R., Ripperda, Bart
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2023
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author Nättilä, Joonas
Cho, James Y-K.
Skinner, Jack W.
Most, Elias R.
Ripperda, Bart
author_facet Nättilä, Joonas
Cho, James Y-K.
Skinner, Jack W.
Most, Elias R.
Ripperda, Bart
contents 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., $β_p \gg 1$ (hydrodynamic regime). In contrast, when $β_p \lesssim 1$ (magnetohydrodynamic regime), the flow is dominated by a global lattice of effectively fixed magnetic islands (plasmoids) - without any jets. Understanding the spatio-temporal variability of dynamic atmospheres and oceans on neutron stars is crucial for interpreting observations of their X-ray emissions.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2306_08186
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Neutron Star Atmosphere-Ocean Dynamics
Nättilä, Joonas
Cho, James Y-K.
Skinner, Jack W.
Most, Elias R.
Ripperda, Bart
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
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., $β_p \gg 1$ (hydrodynamic regime). In contrast, when $β_p \lesssim 1$ (magnetohydrodynamic regime), the flow is dominated by a global lattice of effectively fixed magnetic islands (plasmoids) - without any jets. Understanding the spatio-temporal variability of dynamic atmospheres and oceans on neutron stars is crucial for interpreting observations of their X-ray emissions.
title Neutron Star Atmosphere-Ocean Dynamics
topic High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.08186