No Arabic abstract
We study thermal structure and evolution of magnetars as cooling neutron stars with a phenomenological heat source in a spherical internal layer. We explore the location of this layer as well as the heating rate that could explain high observable thermal luminosities of magnetars and would be consistent with the energy budget of neutron stars. We conclude that the heat source should be located in an outer magnetars crust, at densities rho < 5e11 g/cm^3, and should have the heat intensity of the order of 1e20 erg/s/cm^3. Otherwise the heat energy is mainly emitted by neutrinos and cannot warm up the surface.
We study the thermal structure and evolution of magnetars as cooling neutron stars with a phenomenological heat source in an internal layer. We focus on the effect of magnetized (B > 10^{14} G) non-accreted and accreted outermost envelopes composed of different elements, from iron to hydrogen or helium. We discuss a combined effect of thermal conduction and neutrino emission in the outer neutron star crust and calculate the cooling of magnetars with a dipole magnetic field for various locations of the heat layer, heat rates and magnetic field strengths. Combined effects of strong magnetic fields and light-element composition simplify the interpretation of magnetars in our model: these effects allow one to interpret observations assuming less extreme (therefore, more realistic) heating. Massive magnetars, with fast neutrino cooling in their cores, can have higher thermal surface luminosity.
We present two-dimensional simulations for the cooling of neutron stars with strong magnetic fields (B > 1e13 Gauss). We study how the cooling curves are influenced by magnetic field decay. We show that the Joule heating effects are very large and in some cases control the thermal evolution. We characterize the temperature anisotropy induced by the magnetic field and predict the surface temperature distribution for the early and late stages of the evolution of isolated neutron stars, comparing our results with available observational data of isolated neutron stars.
We present 2D simulations of the cooling of neutron stars with strong magnetic fields (B geq 10^{13} G). We solve the diffusion equation in axial symmetry including the state of the art microphysics that controls the cooling such as slow/fast neutrino processes, superfluidity, as well as possible heating mechanisms. We study how the cooling curves depend on the the magnetic field strength and geometry. Special attention is given to discuss the influence of magnetic field decay. We show that Joule heating effects are very large and in some cases control the thermal evolution. We characterize the temperature anisotropy induced by the magnetic field for the early and late stages of the evolution of isolated neutron stars.
Among the many different classes of stellar objects, neutron stars provide a unique environment where we can test (at the same time) our understanding of matter with extreme density, temperature, and magnetic field. In particular, the properties of matter under the influence of magnetic fields and the role of electromagnetism in physical processes are key areas of research in physics. However, despite decades of research, our limited knowledge on the physics of strong magnetic fields is clear: we only need to note that the strongest steady magnetic field achieved in terrestrial labs is some millions of Gauss, only thousands of times stronger than a common refrigerator magnet. In this general context, I will review here the state of the art of our research on the most magnetic objects in the Universe, a small sample of neutron stars called magnetars. The study of the large high-energy emission, and the flares from these strongly magnetized (~10^{15} Gauss) neutron stars is providing crucial information about the physics involved at these extremes conditions, and favoring us with many unexpected surprises.
Transient X-ray emission, with an approximate t^{-0.7} decay, was observed from SGR 1900+14 over 40 days following the the giant flare of 27 Aug 1998. We calculate in detail the diffusion of heat to the surface of a neutron star through an intense 10^{14}-10^{15} G magnetic field, following the release of magnetic energy in its outer layers. We show that the power law index, the fraction of burst energy in the afterglow, and the return to persistent emission can all be understood if the star is composed of normal baryonic material.