Neutron transfer reactions in accreting neutron stars

Abstract

I suggest a novel type of nuclear reactions in accreting neutron stars - neutron transfer, which is quantum tunneling of weakly bounded neutron from one nucleus to another. I estimate the rate of this process for fixed nuclei separation and then average the result over realistic distribution of nuclei to get the rate value for astrophysical conditions. The neutron transfer can modify reaction chains in accreting neutron stars, thus affecting their heating and cooling. In particular, it can suppress cooling by URCA pairs of nuclei, which is supposed to be crucial for the hottest neutron stars.