Diffusive nuclear burning in neutron star envelopes

We calculate the rate of hydrogen burning for neutron stars (NSs) with hydrogen atmospheres and an underlying reservoir of nuclei capable of proton capture. This burning occurs in the exponentially suppressed diffusive tail of H that extends to the hotter depths of the envelope where protons are rapidly captured. This process, which we call diffusive nuclear burning (DNB), can change the H abundance at the NS photosphere on timescales as short as 10(2)-10(4) yr. In the absence of diffusion, the hydrogen at the photosphere (where T approximate to 10(6) K and rho similar to 0.1 g cm(-3)) would last for far longer than a Hubble time. Our work impacts the understanding of the evolution of surface abundances of isolated NSs, which is important to their thermal spectrum and their effective temperature core temperature relation. In this paper we calculate the rate of H burning when the overall consumption rate is controlled by the nuclear timescales, rather than diffusion timescales. The immediate application is for H burning on millisecond radio pulsars and in quiescence for the accreting NS Cen X-4. We will apply this work to young radio pulsars and magnetars once we have incorporated the effects of strong B > 10(12) G magnetic fields.