English

Magnetic field evolution of X-ray emitting radio-quiet pulsars

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena 2025-02-03 v1 Solar and Stellar Astrophysics Nuclear Theory

Abstract

The intense magnetic fields present in neutron stars are closely linked to their observed temperature and spectral characteristics, timing properties, including spin period and its derivatives. Therefore, a comprehensive theoretical analysis of magnetic field evolution is essential for understanding how the strength of the magnetic field change over time. The decay rate of magnetic field in isolated, non-accreting neutron stars can be assessed by evaluating the second derivative of the spin frequency. Another method to estimate this rate involves monitoring an increase in thermal emission beyond what is expected from standard cooling processes, assuming no additional heating mechanisms are present. Our findings indicate that for X-ray emitting isolated neutron stars, the evolution rate of spin period derivative aligns with the dissipation rate of magnetic energy from the dipolar field, provided that a substantial portion of the released energy is emitted as X-rays. The time scale of magnetic field decay is found to be much shorter than typical age of radio pulsars.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2501.18647,
  title  = {Magnetic field evolution of X-ray emitting radio-quiet pulsars},
  author = {Debasis Atta and Vinay Singh and D. N. Basu},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2501.18647},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

6 pages including 1 figure and 1 table