Gravitational Radiation Evolution of Accreting Neutron Stars

Abstract

The gravitational-wave and accretion driven evolution of neutron stars in low mass X-ray binaries and similar systems is analyzed, while the amplitude of the radiating perturbation (here assumed to be an r-mode) remains small. If most of the star is superfluid, with (temperature independent) mutual friction dominating the ordinary (temperature dependent) shear viscosity, the amplitude of the mode and the angular velocity of the star oscillate about their equilibrium values with a period of at least a few hundred years. The resulting oscillation of the neutron star temperature is also computed. For temperature dependent viscosity, the general conditions for the equilibrium to be stable are found.