Neutron star collisions as a heavy element source

[Chronos]

Yes, you can measure the stochastic x ray background flux vs point source contributions and probabilize the fraction attributable to unresolved point sources as discussed here https://eud.gsfc.nasa.gov/Volker.Beckmann/school/download/JKnodlseder_Diffuse.pdf. This looks like a good way to humor check stellar evolution modeling.

 

[Chronos]

This is why we keep coming back. I never seem quite able to manage leaving here dumber than I was upon arrival.

 

[JMz]

I think there's a lot of that going on. ;-)

 

[alantheastronomer]

Yeah. But X-rays are another way to find NSs, which might give a handle on the ratio: imprecise, but even factor-of-2 accuracy would be plenty at this point.

BTW:

Presumably neutrons would not participate in this flow, as they are electrically neutral. At the NS surfaces, they will decay into protons & electrons, which can.

Neutrons don't have an electric charge, it's true, but they do have a magnetic moment on the same order of magnitude as the proton and so would be affected significantly by the neutron stars' powerful magnetic fields. In fact, it was the neutron's magnetic moment that gave the first hint that the neutron had some sort of internal structure.
But let me clarify another point - there's no reason to think that as the neutron stars get closer that their magnetic fields would force them to flip upside down. The magnetic force is very short range, and even though very powerful still overshadowed by gravitational attraction, although interaction of their magnetic fields might alter the neutron stars dynamics appreciably.
One more thing, from this thread it appears that you seem to think that there are pulsars and then there are neutron stars with no appreciable magnetic fields. All neutron stars have magnetic fields and are pulsars. The only reason we can't observe them all is that not all of them are aligned with our line of sight.

 

[JMz]

Neutrons don't have an electric charge, it's true, but they do have a magnetic moment on the same order of magnitude as the proton and so would be affected significantly by the neutron stars' powerful magnetic fields. In fact, it was the neutron's magnetic moment that gave the first hint that the neutron had some sort of internal structure.

True. I took the previous post to be focused on the currents, only.

...One more thing, from this thread it appears that you seem to think that there are pulsars and then there are neutron stars with no appreciable magnetic fields. All neutron stars have magnetic fields and are pulsars. The only reason we can't observe them all is that not all of them are aligned with our line of sight.

[If you are still addressing my post at this point, rather than @Chronos's, to which I was replying:]
Agreed, though my comment was only about X-rays as an alternative mode of discovery: The pulsar behavior might be unobservable because of alignment or otherwise, whereas looking for X-rays would also be unsuccessful for some (perhaps most) NSs but would be subject to a different set of selection effects than pulsar behavior.