Urca Cooling in Neutron Star Crusts and Oceans: Effects of Nuclear Excitations
Urca Cooling in Neutron Star Crusts and Oceans: Effects of Nuclear Excitations
The excited-state structure of atomic nuclei can modify nuclear processes in stellar environments. In this Letter, we study the influence of nuclear excitations on Urca cooling (repeated back-and-forth β decay and electron capture in a pair of nuclear isotopes) in the crust and ocean of neutron stars. We provide for …