Magnetic fields in turbulent quark matter and magnetar bursts

TL;DR

This paper models the evolution of magnetic fields in dense quark matter within stars, highlighting turbulence effects and proposing a mechanism for magnetar bursts driven by magnetic field fluctuations.

Contribution

It introduces a kinetic model incorporating turbulence and chiral magnetic effects to explain magnetic field behavior in quark stars, linking it to magnetar bursts.

Findings

Turbulence significantly influences small-scale magnetic fields.

Magnetic fields can produce electromagnetic flashes similar to magnetar bursts.

Magnetic field fluctuations may trigger magnetar bursts.

Abstract

We analyze the magnetic field evolution in dense quark matter with unbroken chiral symmetry, which can be found inside quark and hybrid stars. The magnetic field evolves owing to the chiral magnetic effect in the presence of the electroweak interaction between quarks. In our study, we also take into account the magnetohydrodynamic turbulence effects in dense quark matter. We derive the kinetic equations for the spectra of the magnetic helicity density and the magnetic energy density as well as for the chiral imbalances. On the basis of the numerical solution of these equations, we find that turbulence effects are important for the behavior of small scale magnetic fields. It is revealed that, under certain initial conditions, these magnetic fields behave similarly to the electromagnetic flashes of some magnetars. We suggest that fluctuations of magnetic fields, described in frames of our model, which are created in the central regions of a magnetized compact star, can initiate magnetar bursts.