The cooling of neutron stars

Within the next decade, we should be able to determine the temperatures of some neutron stars, especially that of the Crab pulsar, or at least establish upper limits much better than we have at present. We may even detect antineutrinos (and neutrinos) from the very early stages of neutron-star cooling. Such measurements afford exciting prospects for detection of new forms of matter which may be present in neutron stars: this topic is discussed. (author)