CMT00

Anisotropic Superfluidity in Neutron Stars and Strong-Coupling Effects in Superfluid ³

Abstract:
³He ³P₂ The Ginzburg-Landau theory is developed to study the neutron superfluid expected to exist in the interiors of neutron stars. We first find the minima of the general Ginzburg-Landau functional for ³P₂ pairing lies in a region of parameter space minimized by any unitary order parameter. Our estimate of the strong-coupling effects in neutron matter indicates that the strong-coupling functional remains in the same region of parameter space as the BCS functional. Next I consider the effect of a magnetic field on the anisotropic neutron superfluid. In a strong magnetic field the pairing state has an angle-dependent energy gap with a node along the field direction. I also study non-uniform states in the ³P₂ superfluid.

Methods of homotopy theory are used to determine the topologically stable line defects allowed by the ³P₂ order parameter. Free energy analyses of line vortices gives a qualitatively different structure to the single vortex, outside of the core region, than that obtained by other authors. I also observe that the form of the order parameter in the core region implies that ³P₂ neutron vortices have a magnetic moment directed along the vortex line.

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