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Superfluidity in Neutron Stars

Abstract

MATTER in the interior of a typical neutron star is a mixture of three degenerate interacting quantum liquids—neutrons, protons and electrons, the latter two having a density at most a few per cent that of the neutrons1. The mixture, bounded on the inside by a superdense core of hadrons, muons and so on, and most likely by a solid mantle on the outside2, is of density between 5 × 1013 and 1015 g cm−3. As was first pointed out by Migdal3, and more recently discussed by others4–8, there are quite possibly superfluid states in this interior. Here we discuss certain general features of such states and the extent to which they influence the properties of the star.

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BAYM, G., PETHICK, C. & PINES, D. Superfluidity in Neutron Stars. Nature 224, 673–674 (1969). https://doi.org/10.1038/224673a0

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