Neutron stars are one of the most extreme astronomical objects in the universe. They are so dense that a single teaspoon, if you were strong enough to collect it, would weigh 4 billion tons. They can spin as fast as 43,000 times per minute, and their magnetic field - for reference, Earth’s magnetic field is around 1 gauss - reaches a trillion gauss.
The extreme conditions inside neutron stars suggest all kinds of unusual matter might make them up. From neutronium, to nuclear pasta, to soups of strange quarks, neutron stars are a rich source of interesting physics. This episode I will take you on a journey through the star’s layers to the heart of the monster: the core of a neutron star. Here, we will witness the tenets of particle physics break down under the immense pressure, as quarks deconfine and decay. We might see droplets of strange matter fly out and infect the universe. Finally, I’ll touch on the search for experimental evidence to determine which type of matter neutron stars are most likely to keep bubbling away in their cores.
https://whatwedontknow.buzzsprout.com/
07/23/22 • 19 min
What We Don't Know - Core of a neutron star
Transcript
Core of a neutron star
Hello everyone, welcome to the fourteenth episode of ‘What We Don’t Know’, a podcast that explores the boundaries of human knowledge, investigating the unanswered questions and theories that unravel them at the frontiers of science. During this podcast I hope to get you interested in new areas of science, maths and technology, teaching you about existing concepts and igniting a curiosity for the things we have yet to know.
When a massive star dies, it e
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