Luminosity and cooling of highly magnetized white dwarfs: suppression of luminosity by strong magnetic fields

TL;DR

This study models how strong magnetic fields in white dwarfs suppress their luminosity and alter cooling, suggesting magnetized white dwarfs are fainter and harder to detect.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of the impact of intense magnetic fields on white dwarf luminosity and cooling, highlighting the potential observational implications.

Findings

Luminosity decreases by orders of magnitude with increasing magnetic field strength.

Higher magnetic fields lead to increased interface temperatures and decreased radii.

Cooling rates are not significantly affected by magnetic field strength.

Abstract

We investigate the luminosity and cooling of highly magnetized white dwarfs with electron-degenerate cores and non-degenerate surface layers where cooling occurs by diffusion of photons. We find the temperature and density profiles in the surface layers or envelope of white dwarfs by solving the magnetostatic equilibrium and photon diffusion equations in a Newtonian framework. We also obtain the properties of white dwarfs at the core-envelope interface, when the core is assumed to be practically isothermal. With the increase in magnetic field, the interface temperature increases whereas the interface radius decreases. For a given age of the white dwarf and for fixed interface radius or interface temperature, we find that the luminosity decreases significantly from about $10^{-6}\, L_{\odot}$ to $10^{-9}\, L_{\odot}$ as the magnetic field strength increases from about $10^9$ to $10^{12}\,$G at the interface and hence the envelope. This is remarkable because it argues that magnetized white dwarfs are fainter and can be practically hidden in an observed Hertzsprung--Russell diagram. We also find the cooling rates corresponding to these luminosities. Interestingly, the decrease in temperature with time, for the fields under consideration, is not found to be appreciable.