SIMBAD references

2025ApJ...995...58P - Astrophys. J., 995, 58 (2025/December-2)

The Head-on Collision of a Neutron Star with a White Dwarf.

PENG Z.-K., GAO H. and ZHANG X.-F.

Abstract (from CDS):

We have computed the physical processes involved in a head-on collision between a neutron star (NS) and a white dwarf (WD). The outcomes of such collisions vary depending on the mass and type of the WD. We have separately examined the dynamical processes for collisions between NSs and helium WDs (He-WDs), carbon-oxygen WDs (CO-WDs), and oxygen-neon WDs (ONe-WDs). We aim to investigate whether the collision can trigger a thermonuclear explosion of the WD, and if not, whether the NS can remain bound within the WD to form a Thorne-Żytkow-like object (TZlO). For a thermonuclear explosion to occur, at least two conditions must be satisfied: (i) the collision-induced temperature must reach the ignition threshold of the relevant nuclear reactions, and (ii) the burning material must remain in a degenerate state. For different types of WDs, there exist parameter ranges where both conditions are fulfilled, implying that NS-WD collisions can indeed induce thermonuclear explosions, leading to sub-Chandrasekhar Type Ia supernovae or other exotic optical transients powered by thermonuclear explosion. On the other hand, the formation of a TZlO requires that the WD material exerts sufficient drag on the NS to prevent its escape, while the interaction must not trigger a thermonuclear explosion of the WD. Our results indicate that such conditions can be realized in the case of low-mass CO-WDs and low-mass ONe-WDs, provided that the viscous coefficient is sufficiently large.

Abstract Copyright: © 2025. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.

Journal keyword(s): White dwarf stars - Neutron stars - Collision processes - Supernovae

Simbad objects: 2

goto Full paper

goto View the references in ADS

To bookmark this query, right click on this link: simbad:2025ApJ...995...58P and select 'bookmark this link' or equivalent in the popup menu