Neutrino emission in neutron stars

Abstract

Neutrino emissivities in a neutron star are computed for the neutrino bremsstrahlung process. In the first part the electro-weak nucleon-nucleon bremsstrahlung is calculated in free space in terms of a on-shell $T$-matrix using a generalized Low energy theorem. In the second part the emissivities are calculated in terms of the hadronic polarization at the two-loop level. Various medium effects, such as finite particle width, Pauli blocking in the $T$-matrix are considered. Compared to the pioneering work of Friman and Maxwell in terms of (anti-symmetrized) one-pion exchange the resulting emissivity is about a factor 4 smaller at saturation density.