NEUTRON STARS: PROBES FOR HIGH DENSITY BARYON PAIRING

Abstract

We consider, in general terms, the early thermal evolution of an isolated neutron star, i.e., during the first $10^5$ years after the supernova explosion when the cooling is driven by neutrino emission from the core. It is shown that, if fast neutrino emission is occuring, the surface temperature is actually determined by the critical temperature $T_c$ at which the core baryons become superfluid, and almost nothing else. In particular, the dependence on the actual neutrino emission process is very weak. In other terms, fast neutrino cooling neutron stars are thermometers for the highest $T_c$ superfluid (superconductor) in the Universe. The observational data are briefly presented.