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Description
Neutron stars have been of interest since Landau proposed their existence in the early 1930's. Soon after, Baade and Zwicky theorized the origins of neutron stars and Tolman, Oppenheimer, and Volkoff modeled neutron stars. It wasn't until until the 1960's when Bell and Hewish found the first pulsar that theoretical neutron stars could be compared to observable results. Since then scientists have found 2000 neutron stars with masses as high as 2 M_. The models for neutron stars have improved with our understanding of nuclear matter. The equations of state for nuclear matter that describe pressure as a function of energy have been altered for neutron stars. Not all models for nuclear matter fit with neutron star data. This study examines how the models fit the observed masses. The models have been divided into groups based on their treatment of the many body problem. For each model the rotating and non-rotating cases have been examined to see the effects of rotation on the properties of a neutron star at certain masses. Though all neutron stars give insight into super dense matter, this paper will focus on neutron stars near 2 M_. We see shifts in all properties when moving from the non-rotating to the rotating case. After comparing the resulting masses for each equation of state to the recently found 1.97 ± 0.04 M_ neutron star, we can predict the properties of such a massive neutron star. We will also be able to rule out models for the equation of state that do not create large enough stars. About half of the models studied can create non-rotating neutron stars of at least 2.0 M_, while nearly all of the models can create rapidly rotating neutron stars of the same mass.
