Rapid cooling of the compact star in Cassiopea A as a phase transition in dense QCD

Mar 21, 2013
5 pages
Published in:
  • Astron.Astrophys. 555 (2013) L10
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Abstract: (arXiv)
We present a model of the compact star in Cassiopea A that accounts for its unusually fast cooling behavior. This feature is interpreted as an enhancement in the neutrino emission triggered by a transition from a fully gapped, two-flavor, color-superconducting phase to a crystalline phase or an alternative gapless, color-superconducting phase. By fine-tuning a single parameter -- the temperature of this transition -- a specific cooling scenario can be selected that fits the Cas A data. Such a scenario requires a massive M2MM\sim 2M_{\odot} star and is, therefore, distinctive from models invoking canonical 1.4 MM_{\odot} mass star with nucleonic pairing alone.
Note:
  • 5 pages, 3 figures, v2 and v3: minor changes, matches the version publised in A & A Letters