Neutron Star Crustal Interface Waves

Abstract

The eigenfrequencies of nonradial oscillations are a powerful probe of a star's interior structure. This is especially true when there exist discontinuities such as at the neutron star (NS) ocean/crust boundary, as first noted by McDermott, Van Horn & Hansen. The interface mode associated with this boundary has subsequently been neglected in studies of stellar nonradial oscillations. We revisit this mode, investigating its properties both analytically and numerically for a simple NS envelope model. We find that it acts like a shallow surface ocean wave, but with a large radial displacement at the ocean/crust boundary due to flexing of the crust with shear modulus $\mu\ll P$, the pressure. This displacement lowers the mode's frequency by a factor of $\sim(\mu/P)^{1/2}\sim0.1$ in comparison to a shallow surface wave frequency on a hard surface. The interface mode may be excited on accreting or bursting NSs and future work on nonradial oscillations should consider this mode. Our work also implies an additional mode on massive and/or cold white dwarfs with crystalline cores, which may have a frequency between the f-mode and g-modes, an otherwise empty part of the frequency domain.