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Phys. Rev. Lett. 83, 3362–3365 (1999)

Pulsar Constraints on Neutron Star Structure and Equation of State

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Bennett Link*
Department of Physics, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana 59717

Richard I. Epstein†
Los Alamos National Laboratory, Mail Stop D436, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545

James M. Lattimer‡
Department of Physics and Astronomy, State University of New York, Stony Brook, New York 11974-3800

Received 6 May 1999; published in the issue dated 25 October 1999

See accompanying Physics Focus

With the aim of constraining the structural properties of neutron stars and the equation of state of dense matter, we study sudden spin-ups, glitches, occurring in the Vela pulsar and in six other pulsars. We present evidence that glitches represent a self-regulating instability for which the star prepares over a waiting time. The angular momentum requirements of glitches in Vela indicate that ≥1.4% of the star's moment of inertia drives these events. If glitches originate in the liquid of the inner crust, Vela's “radiation radius” R∞ must exceed ≃12km for a mass of 1.4M⊙. Observational tests of whether other neutron stars obey this constraint will be possible in the near future.

© 1999 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.83.3362
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.83.3362
PACS:
97.60.Jd, 26.60.+c, 97.60.Gb

*Also at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM.Electronic address: blink@dante.physics.montana.edu

†Electronic address: epstein@lanl.gov

‡Electronic address: lattimer@astro.sunysb.edu

 
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