The impact of magnetic field on the thermal evolution of neutron stars

TL;DR

This paper investigates how strong magnetic fields influence the thermal evolution of neutron stars, revealing that magnetic effects significantly alter cooling processes and surface temperature distributions, challenging standard models.

Contribution

It introduces 2D magneto-thermal simulations that incorporate magnetic field decay and anisotropic conductivity, providing a more comprehensive understanding of neutron star cooling.

Findings

Magnetic fields significantly impact neutron star cooling.

Magnetic effects alter surface temperature distribution.

Standard cooling models are insufficient without magnetic considerations.

Abstract

The impact of strong magnetic fields B>10e13 G on the thermal evolution of neutron stars is investigated, including crustal heating by magnetic field decay. For this purpose, we perform 2D cooling simulations with anisotropic thermal conductivity considering all relevant neutrino emission processes for realistic neutron stars. The standard cooling models of neutron stars are called into question by showing that the magnetic field has relevant (and in many cases dominant) effects on the thermal evolution. The presence of the magnetic field significantly affects the thermal surface distribution and the cooling history of these objects during both, the early neutrino cooling era and the late photon cooling era. The minimal cooling scenario is thus more complex than generally assumed. A consistent magneto-thermal evolution of magnetized neutron stars is needed to explain the observations.