Generation of strong magnetic fields in hybrid and quark stars driven by the electroweak interaction of quarks

TL;DR

This paper investigates how electroweak interactions of quarks in hybrid and quark stars can drive magnetic field instabilities, leading to the amplification of seed magnetic fields to magnetar-strength levels.

Contribution

It introduces a novel mechanism for magnetic field amplification in compact stars based on electroweak interactions of quarks, predicting significant magnetic field growth.

Findings

Seed magnetic fields of 10^{12} G can grow to 10^{14}-10^{15} G.

The mechanism applies to hybrid and quark stars with degenerate quark matter.

Results are relevant for understanding magnetic fields in magnetars.

Abstract

We study the generation of strong large scale magnetic fields in compact stars containing degenerate quark matter with unbroken chiral symmetry. The magnetic field growth is owing to the magnetic field instability driven by the electroweak interaction of quarks. In this system we predict the enhancement of the seed magnetic field $10^{12}\,\text{G}$ to the strengths $(10^{14}-10^{15})\,\text{G}$. In our analysis we use the typical parameters of the quark matter in the core of a hybrid star or in a quark star. We also apply of the obtained results to model the generation of magnetic fields in magnetars.