Mass-radius relation of strongly magnetized white dwarfs: nearly independent of Landau quantization

TL;DR

This study models strongly magnetized white dwarfs, showing that magnetic fields can increase their maximum mass beyond the Chandrasekhar limit, with Landau quantization having minimal impact on their structure.

Contribution

The paper presents a detailed analysis of how strong magnetic fields influence white dwarf mass-radius relations, demonstrating a significant mass increase independent of Landau quantization effects.

Findings

Maximum white dwarf mass ~1.9 solar masses with strong magnetic fields

Magnetic fields can increase mass beyond Chandrasekhar limit by over 30%

Landau quantization has negligible effect on white dwarf structure

Abstract

We compute static equilibria of white dwarf stars containing strong poloidal magnetic field, and present the modification of white dwarf mass-radius relation caused by the magnetic field. We find that a maximum white dwarf mass of about $1.9$~$M\odot$ may be supported if the interior field is as strong as approximately $10^{10}$ T. This mass is over 30 per cent larger than the traditional Chandrasekhar Limit. The equation of state of electron degenerate matter can be strongly modified due to Landau quantization at such high magnetic fields. We find, however, that this does not significantly affect the structure of the white dwarf.