scholarly journals Evolution of Neutron Star Magnetic Fields

Universe ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (9) ◽  
pp. 351
Author(s):  
Andrei P. Igoshev ◽  
Sergei B. Popov ◽  
Rainer Hollerbach

Neutron stars are natural physical laboratories allowing us to study a plethora of phenomena in extreme conditions. In particular, these compact objects can have very strong magnetic fields with non-trivial origin and evolution. In many respects, its magnetic field determines the appearance of a neutron star. Thus, understanding the field properties is important for the interpretation of observational data. Complementing this, observations of diverse kinds of neutron stars enable us to probe parameters of electro-dynamical processes at scales unavailable in terrestrial laboratories. In this review, we first briefly describe theoretical models of the formation and evolution of the magnetic field of neutron stars, paying special attention to field decay processes. Then, we present important observational results related to the field properties of different types of compact objects: magnetars, cooling neutron stars, radio pulsars, and sources in binary systems. After that, we discuss which observations can shed light on the obscure characteristics of neutron star magnetic fields and their behaviour. We end the review with a subjective list of open problems.

2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (S275) ◽  
pp. 309-310
Author(s):  
Federico García ◽  
Deborah N. Aguilera ◽  
Gustavo E. Romero

AbstractAccreting neutron stars can produce jets only if they are weakly magnetized (B ~ 108 G). On the other hand, neutron stars are compact objects born with strong surface magnetic fields (B ~ 1012 G). In this work we study the conditions for jet formation in a binary system formed by a neutron star and a massive donor star once the magnetic field has decayed due to accretion. We solve the induction equation for the magnetic field diffusion in a realistic neutron star crust and discuss the possibility of jet launching in systems like the recently detected Supergiant Fast X-ray Transients.


2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (S337) ◽  
pp. 213-216
Author(s):  
Wynn C. G. Ho ◽  
Nils Andersson ◽  
Vanessa Graber

AbstractA superconductor of paired protons is thought to form in the core of neutron stars soon after their birth. Minimum energy conditions suggest that magnetic flux is expelled from the superconducting region due to the Meissner effect, such that the neutron star core retains or is largely devoid of magnetic fields for some nuclear equation of state and proton pairing models. We show via neutron star cooling simulations that the superconducting region expands faster than flux is expected to be expelled because cooling timescales are much shorter than timescales of magnetic field diffusion. Thus magnetic fields remain in the bulk of the neutron star core for at least 106 − 107yr. We estimate the size of flux free regions at 107yr to be ≲ 100m for a magnetic field of 1011G and possibly smaller for stronger field strengths.


1996 ◽  
Vol 160 ◽  
pp. 533-534
Author(s):  
Xiangdong Li ◽  
Zhenru Wang

The origin and evolution of neutron star magnetic fields has been hotly debated for a long time. Spontaneous field decay was originally proposed with timescales of (5–10) × 106years, while another possible model which associates field decay with mass accretion in the evolution of binary systems has been suggested (see Bhattacharya & van den Heuvel 1991 for a review). The aim of this paper is to examine whether accretion-induced field decay can reproduce the observed properties of the wide binary radio pulsars in quantitative calculations.In a binary system consisting of a neutron star and a low-mass giant companion, if the initial orbital period is longer than 1 day, mass transfer, taking the form of Roche-lobe overflow, is driven by the nuclear evolution of the giant through radius expansion (Webbink et al. 1983). We assume the mass accretion rateṀof the neutron star is limited to the Eddington accretion rateṀE≃ 10−8M⊙yr−1. If the mass transfer rate is in excess ofṀE, the rest mass is blown from the system in the forms of jets or beams.


2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (S290) ◽  
pp. 231-232
Author(s):  
Alexander F. Kholtygin ◽  
Andrei P. Igoshev

AbstractWe consider the evolution of the very young neutron stars (NS) with moderate and low magnetic field values around 1E8 G to know how large is the share of the these objects among the those attributed as the millisecond pulsars (MSP). To exclude the contamination of accreted NS and young NS with moderate magnetic fields we study the observational evidences of the accretion on NS in the binary systems and different methods of age determinations. It was concluded that only central compact objects are appropriate candidates for NSs with small initial magnetic fields.


2004 ◽  
Vol 218 ◽  
pp. 41-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joeri van Leeuwen ◽  
Frank Verbunt

Several recent papers conclude that radio-pulsar magnetic fields decay on a time-scale of 10 Myr, apparently contradicting earlier results. We have implemented the methods of these papers in our code and show that this preference for rapid field decay is caused by the assumption that the beaming fraction does not depend on the period. When we do include this dependence, we find that the observed pulsar properties are reproduced best when the modeled field does not decay. When we assume that magnetic fields of new-born neutron stars are from a distribution sufficiently wide to explain magnetars, the magnetic field and period distributions we predict for radio are pulsars wider than observed. Finally we find that the observed velocities overestimate the intrinsic velocity distribution.


1992 ◽  
Vol 128 ◽  
pp. 26-34
Author(s):  
Dipankar Bhattacharya

AbstractThe evolution of the magnetic field strength plays a major role in the life history of a neutron star. In this article the observational evidence of field evolution, in particular that of field decay and magnetic alignment, are critically examined. It is concluded that the observed decay of the spindown torque on radio pulsars cannot be caused by a secular evolution of the “obliqueness” of the neutron star, as suggested by some authors. Recent observations provide a strong indication that the decay of the magnetic field strength of a neutron star may be closely related to its evolution in a binary system. Theoretical models for such an evolution are discussed.


2012 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 414-418 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. M. ZHANG ◽  
Y. Y. PAN ◽  
J. WANG ◽  
A. TAANI ◽  
Y. H. ZHAO

Neutron star parameters, e.g. mass, radius and magnetic field, can be constrained by the observations of kHz quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs), which show the information close to the surface of neutron stars (NSs) in the accreting binary systems. The high QPO frequency will leak out the physics around the inner disk boundary, where the physics in a strong gravity regime will effect. By means of the twin kHz QPO detections, which are interpreted as the Keplerian orbital motions near NSs, the methods of determining NS mass and radius are introduced.


2009 ◽  
Vol 2009 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denis Leahy ◽  
Rachid Ouyed

We present new analysis of the birth rate of AXPs and SGRS and their associated SNRs. Using Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistics together with parametric fits based on a robust estimator, we find a birth rate of ∼1/(1000 years) for AXPs/SGRs and their associated SNRs. These high rates suggest that all massive stars (greater than ∼(23–32)M⊙) give rise to remnants with magnetar-like fields. Observations indicate a limited fraction of high magnetic fields in these progenitors; thus our study is suggestive of magnetic field amplification. Dynamo mechanisms during the birth of the neutron stars require spin rates much faster than either observations or theory indicate. We propose that massive stars produce neutron stars with normal (∼1012 G) magnetic fields, which are then amplified to1014-1015 G after a delay of hundreds of years. The amplification is speculated to be a consequence of color ferromagnetism and to occur with a delay after the neutron star core reaches quark deconfinement density (i.e., the quark-nova scenario). The delayed amplification allows one to interpret simultaneously the high birth rate and high magnetic fields of AXPs/SGRs and their link to massive stars.


2011 ◽  
Vol 20 (10) ◽  
pp. 2019-2022
Author(s):  
J. WANG ◽  
C. M. ZHANG ◽  
Y. H. ZHAO

In binary systems, the rotation of neutron stars can be spun up by the accreted material, and at the same time the decay of their magnetic fields occur in the accretion phase. As a result, the spin period may arrive at a minimum of about 1.5 ms, corresponding to a bottom value of the magnetic field ~ 108 G. Taking the conditions: (i) initial magnetic field varying from 1011 G to 1013 G while setting period as 100 s, (ii) initial period as 1–100 s at B = 5 × 1012 G , we find that this minimum of spin period seems independent of these initial conditions.


2018 ◽  
Vol 172 ◽  
pp. 07002
Author(s):  
Daryel Manreza Paret ◽  
A. Perez Martinez ◽  
Alejandro. Ayala ◽  
G. Piccinelli ◽  
A. Sanchez

We study a model that explain neutron stars velocities due to the anisotropic emission of neutrinos. Strong magnetic fields present in neutron stars are the source of the anisotropy in the system. To compute the velocity of the neutron star we model its core as composed by strange quark matter and analice the properties of a magnetized quark gas at finite temperature and density. Specifically we have obtained the electron polarization and the specific heat of magnetized fermions as a functions of the temperature, chemical potential and magnetic field which allow us to study the velocity of the neutron star as a function of these parameters.


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