Compact stars

En savoir plus sur le livre

White dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes are the remnants of stars that have lost most of their mass through supernovae or other instabilities. This book delves into the various forms these compact stars can take, governed by the laws of general relativity and quantum mechanics, as well as the properties of nuclear matter and quarks at high density. It is self-contained, offering a review of general relativity, key aspects of nuclear and particle physics, and the characteristics of white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes. The text also covers stellar formation and evolution, the discovery of pulsars, and the strange-matter hypothesis. It develops a theory for neutron stars and explores more exotic types, including Hyperon Stars, Hybrid Stars (with a quark matter core), and Strange Stars and Dwarfs (composed of light quark flavors surrounded by heavy ions). This revised second edition clarifies discussions and updates data, featuring new figures, sections, and chapters on Bose condensates in neutron stars and phase transitions.