(Astrophysics and Space Science Library, 461) 1st ed. 2021 Edition
by Tomaso M. Belloni (Editor), Mariano Méndez (Editor), Chengmin Zhang (Editor)
Neutron stars, whether isolated or in a binary system, display a
varied and complex phenomenology, often accompanied by extreme
variability of many time scales, which takes the form of pulsations due
to the object rotation, quasi-periodicities associated to accretion of
matter, and explosions due to matter accreted on the surface or to
starquakes of highly magnetized objects.
This book gives an
overview of the current observational and theoretical standpoint in the
research on the physics under the extreme conditions that neutron stars
naturally provide. The six chapters explore three physical regions of a
neutron star:
- the space around it, where accretion and pulsar companions allow testing of general relativity
- its
surface, where millisecond pulsation and X-ray burts provide clues
about general relativistic effects and the equation of state of neutron
matter
- its interior, of course, inaccessible to direct
observations, can nevertheless, be probed with all observational
parameters related to neutron star variability.
