Influence of the photon - neutrino processes on magnetar cooling

TL;DR

This paper investigates photon-neutrino interactions in strongly magnetized dense plasmas, assessing their impact on neutrino emission and magnetar cooling, and constrains magnetic field strengths in magnetar crusts.

Contribution

It provides new calculations of reaction amplitudes and neutrino emissivity contributions for photon-neutrino processes in magnetized plasmas, highlighting their relative significance.

Findings

Photon-neutrino process amplitudes are derived.

Neutrino emissivity from photon-photon processes is suppressed.

Constraints on magnetic field strength in magnetar crusts are established.

Abstract

The photon-neutrino processes $\gamma e^{\pm} \to e^{\pm} \nu \bar \nu$, $\gamma \to \nu \bar \nu$ and $\gamma \gamma \to \nu \bar \nu$ are investigated in the presence of a strongly magnetized and dense electron-positron plasma. The amplitudes of the reactions $\gamma e^{\pm} \to e^{\pm} \nu \bar \nu$ and $\gamma \gamma \to \nu \bar \nu$ are obtained. In the case of a cold degenerate plasma contributions of the considering processes to neutrino emissivity are calculated. It is shown that contribution of the process $\gamma \gamma \to \nu \bar \nu$ to neutrino emissivity is supressed in comparision with the contributions of the processes $\gamma e^{\pm} \to e^{\pm} \nu \bar \nu$ and $\gamma \to \nu \bar \nu$. The constraint on the magnetic field strength in the magnetar outer crust is obtained.