Related papers: Joule heating in high magnetic field pulsars
Thermonuclear burning on the surface of a neutron star causes the expansion of a thin outer layer of the star, $\Delta R(t)$. The layer rotates slower than the star due to angular momentum conservation. The shear between the star and the…
The crust of a neutron star (NS) provides a unique laboratory for studying matter under extreme density and magnetic field conditions that cannot be realized in terrestrial experiments. However, direct observational constraints on its…
Late-type stars interact with their close-in planets through their coronal magnetic fields. We introduce a theory for the interaction between the stellar and planetary fields focussing on the processes that release magnetic energy in the…
Neutron stars serve as excellent next-generation thermal detectors of dark matter, heated by the scattering and annihilation of dark matter accelerated to relativistic speeds in their deep gravitational wells. However, the dynamics of…
Rapidly rotating neutron stars blow a relativistic, magnetized wind mainly composed of electron-positron pairs. The free expansion of the wind terminates far from the neutron star where a weakly magnetized pulsar wind nebula forms, implying…
Recent observations show that the thermal X-ray spectra of many isolated neutron stars are featureless and in some cases (e.g., RX J1856.5-3754) well fit by a blackbody. Such a perfect blackbody spectrum is puzzling since radiative…
There is a subclass of the X-ray jets from young stellar objects which are heated very close to the footpoint of the jets, particularly DG Tau jets. Previous models attribute the strong heating to shocks in the jets. However, the mechanism…
Magnetic fields and mass accretion processes create dark and bright spots on the surface of young stars. These spots manifest as surface thermal inhomogeneities, which alter the global temperature measured on the stars. To understand the…
Studying the physical processes occurring in the region just above the magnetic poles of strongly magnetized, accreting binary neutron stars is essential to our understanding of stellar and binary system evolution. Perhaps more importantly,…
Neutron stars can harbor extremely strong magnetic fields, yet the structure and stability of their magnetic field configuration remain poorly understood. Observations of pulsars indicate that the large-scale external field is predominantly…
We investigate the thermal, magnetic and rotational evolution of isolated neutron stars assuming that the dipolar magnetic field is confined to the crust. Our treatment, for the first time, uses a fully general relativistic formalism not…
Hyperaccreting disks around neutron stars or magnetars cooled via neutrino emission can be the potential central engine of GRBs. The neutron-star disk can cool more efficiently, produce much higher neutrino luminosity and neutrino…
We calculate the thermal conductivity of electrons for the strongly correlated multi-component ion plasma expected in the outer layers of neutron star's crust employing a Path Integral Monte Carlo (PIMC) approach. This allows us to isolate…
The ohmic decay of magnetic fields confined within the crust of neutron stars is considered by incorporating both the effect of neutron star cooling and the effect of space-time curvature produced by the intense gravitational field of the…
We report on a new mechanism for heat conduction in the neutron star crust. We find that collective modes of superfluid neutron matter, called superfluid phonons (sPhs), can influence heat conduction in magnetized neutron stars. They can…
The outermost layers of some neutron stars are likely to be dominated by hydrogen, as a result of fast gravitational settling of heavier elements. These layers directly mediate thermal radiation from the stars, and determine the…
We present a study of magnetic profiles of umbral dots (UDs) and its consequences on the Joule heating mechanisms. Hamedivafa (2003) studied Joule heating using vertical component of magnetic field. In this paper UDs magnetic profile has…
Under normal conditions in a neutron-star crust, ions are locked in place in the crustal lattice and only electrons are mobile, and magnetic-field evolution is thus directly related to the electron velocity. The evolution, however, builds…
The heating and cooling of transiently accreting neutron stars provides a powerful probe of the structure and composition of their crust. Observations of superbursts and crust cooling of accretion-heated neutron stars require more heat…
Recent observations of quasi-periodic oscillations in the aftermath of giant flares in soft gamma-ray repeaters suggest a close coupling between the seismic motion of the crust after a major quake and the modes of oscillations in a…