ABSTRACT
A leading area of research concerns the exploration of the properties of matter under extreme conditions of temperature and density, and the determination of the equation of state associated with it. The enormous gravitational pull that binds neutron stars compresses most of their matter to densities that are up to an order of magnitude higher than the density of atomic nuclei, making neutron stars unique probes of superdense matter. Neutron stars are associated with two classes of astrophysical galactic objects. The first class, pulsars are generally accepted to be rotating neutron stars. The second class is compact X-ray sources, certain of which are neutron stars in close binary orbits with an ordinary star. Rotating neutron stars show a large range of extreme astrophysical phenomena and, as clocks, they show incredible rotation stability and promise to act as superb probes of superdense matter. Most of the mass of the star is contributed by highly compressed matter at nuclear and supernuclear densities.
