Study of compact objets: neutron-star elastic properties and white-dwarf crystallisation

by Théau Diverres (2^nd year PhD student)

In this talk, I will present two topics that I address during my PhD thesis: the elastic properties of the crust of neutron stars and the crystallisation of white dwarfs.

In the first part of my talk, I will focus on the neutron-star crust that is important for many astrophysical phenomena such as the cooling of the star and its transport properties. I will discuss results for neutron-star-crust elastic properties, namely the shear modulus, and their associated uncertainties, obtained within a bayesian analysis.

In the second part, I will present calculations of the crystallisation of Carbon-Oxygen white dwarfs. This process delays the cooling of the star because of the energy released due to both the latent heat and the chemical redistribution inside the star and is directly connected to observations. In particular, I will focus on the effect of the phase diagram of the two component plasma on the cooling delay.