Asymmetric neutrino emission in quark matter and pulsar kicks

Abstract

The puzzling phenomenon of pulsar kicks, i.e. the observed large escape velocities of pulsars out of supernova remnants, is examined for compact stars with a strange quark matter core. The direct Urca process in quark matter is studied in the presence of a strong magnetic field. Conditions for an asymmetric emission of the produced neutrinos are worked out in detail, giving constraints on the temperature, the strength of the magnetic field and the electron chemical potential in the quark matter core. In addition, the neutrino mean free paths for quark matter and a possible hadronic mantle are considered.