Neutron Stars Partially Dissected

mmol_6453 writes "An article at ScienceDaily details and explains observations that offer the first proof that what we consider neutron stars really are neutron superfluids. The original press release can be found here."

Comments

Re:forgot plasma

[The Red Rooster]

There are actually several more:
solid
liquid
gas
plasma
AND
Bose-Einst ien Condensate
Quark somethingorother
superfluids

BEC's are ultra-cold bodies of matter where all atoms in the conglomerate 'march' to the same drum. In effect, each atom behaves not just exactly the same as all other atoms, but as if the whole she-bang were one single atom.

With the Quarks, inside super-hot, super-dense areas, quarks free themselves, something not normally allowed. The quarks end up shielding themselves from each other so that they cannot recombine quite as easily. IOW, you can actually cool the cloud down just a bit.

Superfluids are states not unlike BEC's wherein all sorts of strange things happen. Helium is the famous example. You can get superfluidic helium to flow uphill in the right conditions.