Gravitational radiation from pulsar glitches

Abstract

The nonaxisymmetric Ekman flow excited inside a neutron star following a\nrotational glitch is calculated analytically including stratification and\ncompressibility. For the largest glitches, the gravitational wave strain\nproduced by the hydrodynamic mass quadrupole moment approaches the sensitivity\nrange of advanced long-baseline interferometers. It is shown that the\nviscosity, compressibility, and orientation of the star can be inferred in\nprinciple from the width and amplitude ratios of the Fourier peaks (at the spin\nfrequency and its first harmonic) observed in the gravitational wave spectrum\nin the plus and cross polarizations. These transport coefficients constrain the\nequation of state of bulk nuclear matter, because they depend sensitively on\nthe degree of superfluidity.\n