Strange Alien Matter Observed at Neutron Star Core

 

             

 

Evidence for a bizarre state of matter has been found in the dense core of the star left behind, a so-called neutron star, based on cooling observed over a decade of Chandra observations. NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory discovered the first direct evidence for a superfluid, a bizarre, friction-free state of matter, at the core of Cassiopeia A.

Superfluids created in laboratories on Earth exhibit remarkable properties, such as the ability to climb upward and escape airtight containers. The finding has important implications for understanding nuclear interactions in matter at the highest known densities.

Neutron stars contain the densest known matter that is directly observable. One teaspoon of neutron star material weighs six billion tons. The pressure in the star's core is so high that most of the charged particles, electrons and protons, merge resulting in a star composed mostly of uncharged particles called neutrons.

Two independent research teams studied the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A, or Cas A for short, the remains of a massive star 11,000 light years away that would have appeared to explode about 330 years ago as observed from Earth. Chandra data found a rapid decline in the temperature of the ultra-dense neutron star that remained after the supernova, showing that it had cooled by about four percent over a 10-year period.

"This drop in temperature, although it sounds small, was really dramatic and surprising to see," said Dany Page of the National Autonomous University in Mexico. "This means that something unusual is happening within this neutron star."

Superfluids containing charged particles are also superconductors, meaning they act as perfect electrical conductors and never lose energy. The new results strongly suggest that the remaining protons in the star's core are in a superfluid state and, because they carry a charge, also form a superconductor.

"The rapid cooling in Cas A's neutron star, seen with Chandra, is the first direct evidence that the cores of these neutron stars are, in fact, made of superfluid and superconducting material," said Peter Shternin of the Ioffe Institute in St Petersburg, Russia.

Both teams show that this rapid cooling is explained by the formation of a neutron superfluid in the core of the neutron star within about the last 100 years as seen from Earth. The rapid cooling is expected to continue for a few decades and then it should slow down.

"It turns out that Cas A may be a gift from the Universe because we would have to catch a very young neutron star at just the right point in time," said Page's co-author Madappa Prakash, from Ohio University. "Sometimes a little good fortune can go a long way in science."  

The onset of superfluidity in materials on Earth occurs at extremely low temperatures near absolute zero, but in neutron stars, it can occur at temperatures near a billion degrees Celsius. Until now there was a very large uncertainty in estimates of this critical temperature. This new research constrains the critical temperature to between one half a billion to just under a billion degrees.

Cas A will allow researchers to test models of how the strong nuclear force, which binds subatomic particles, behaves in ultradense matter. These results are also important for understanding a range of behavior in neutron stars, including "glitches," neutron star precession and pulsation, magnetar outbursts and the evolution of neutron star magnetic fields.

Small sudden changes in the spin rate of rotating neutron stars, called glitches, have previously given evidence for superfluid neutrons in the crust of a neutron star, where densities are much lower than seen in the core of the star. This latest news from Cas A unveils new information about the ultra-dense inner region of the neutron star.

"Previously we had no idea how extended superconductivity of protons was in a neutron star," said Shternin's co-author Dmitry Yakovlev, also from the Loffe Institute.

The cooling in the Cas A neutron star was first discovered by co-author Craig Heinke, from the University of Alberta, Canada, and Wynn Ho from the University of Southampton, UK, in 2010. It was the first time that astronomers have measured the rate of cooling of a young neutron star.

The Daily Galaxy via Chandra X-ray Center

Image Credit: This image presents a beautiful composite of X-rays from Chandra (red, green, and blue) and optical data from Hubble (gold) of Cassiopeia A, the remains of a massive star that exploded in a supernova. 

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Comments

[Matthew]

I wonder if this research could pave the way for us to develop a way to create ultra dense mass capable of creating a gravitational field. Thereby allowing us to create a way to warp space for travel.

[Justin]

I know it sounds weird, but since we came from the universe. And our DNA is only sustainable to this world... But could we ever possibly modify it to somehow live out in the universe? Or somehow modify it into the universe? I don't know... To live in the universe in a conscious way type of dealy where you are free to roam the universe, to watch it all in a way.

[Matthew]

Advancements in dna research will likely lead to a series of seemingly immortal options. Age reversal, elimination of microbial life from our bodies so we never get sick, regeneration of severed limbs. We would likely have to create a type of human specifically for space travel. A being designed to live in space. Or at least genetically alter certain humans to be resistant to the rigors of traveling in space.

[john]

I can't remember the title but there was a book where people
could have themselves altered to live in space and some of them
had themselves altered to be somewhat spider-like so they could hop around the rings of Saturn...fascinating.

[Liam]

@John, do you remember the author of the book? I would like to read it.

[Byron]

Stephen Baxter's novel Flux is based beings living in the superfluid layers of neutron stars and dealing with glitches in the magnetic field and the havoc these glitches cause. Good read. Better book by Baxter is "Ring"

[Matt Rhodes]

A better understanding of superfluids and other types of matter under high pressures at low or high temperatures will be invaluable in the future.

Understanding their properties will help create new alloys, propulsion systems for future space travel.

[smartypants]

From http://www.universetoday.com/18447/suns-atmosphere/
The temperature of the corona is about 200 times hotter than the surface of the Sun. While the photosphere is only 6,000 K, the corona can reach 1-3 million degrees K. Scientists still aren’t sure why the temperature of the corona is so high.

Wouldnt the scientist actually be seeing the corona of the star changing temperature? Until we know (or at least have a good theory) why the corona is so much hotter and what controls this, how would anyone know what it means to the core?

[katesisco]

The most amazing thing is this: www.llnl.gov/str/Schneider.html
Their experiments show their microplasma cooled to ultracold forms ionic crystal which show quantized feature of synchronicity. That is they retain individuality while equidistance apart. AND they are equivalent to exotic cores of white dwarfs. This is the secret of the universe, transmutation of temperature and density passing from ultra cold to ultra hot in a phase change. George Gammow named the densest matter possible nuclear fluid and it is correct to describe it that way.