General Relativistic Corrections to Flux for Rapidly Rotating Neutron Stars

• Author / Creator

  Amason, Charlee M

• Neutron stars (NSs) are the densest known objects which are gravitationally stable (unlike, e.g., black holes, which have undergone gravitational collapse). This makes NSs ideal sites for studying how matter behaves under extreme conditions, in particular a state known as cold dense matter. Since cold dense matter cannot be produced on Earth, its equation of state (EOS) is one of the most highly sought after equations in physics. Measuring the exact radius R of a NS with mass M will impose significant constraints on the EOS. One method of calculating NS radii involves measuring the variations in light emitted from the surface of a NS as it rotates; this allows us to determine a parameter known as its compactness (M/R). The value of this ratio can be used to rule out possible EOS. By simulating the spectral flux from a NS, we examine how this light is altered by relativistic bending from the star’s surface, as well as by spin effects and atmospheric composition.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Flux
  • Astrophysics
  • Neutron Stars
  • General Relativity

• Graduation date

  Fall 2019

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-3bw9-3945

• License

  Permission is hereby granted to the University of Alberta Libraries to reproduce single copies of this thesis and to lend or sell such copies for private, scholarly or scientific research purposes only. Where the thesis is converted to, or otherwise made available in digital form, the University of Alberta will advise potential users of the thesis of these terms. The author reserves all other publication and other rights in association with the copyright in the thesis and, except as herein before provided, neither the thesis nor any substantial portion thereof may be printed or otherwise reproduced in any material form whatsoever without the author's prior written permission.