Magnetic Axis Drift and Magnetic Spot Formation in Neutron Stars with Toroidal Fields

TL;DR

This paper investigates how toroidal magnetic fields in neutron stars can create persistent magnetic spots and displace the magnetic dipole axis, affecting observational properties and potentially explaining magnetar phenomena.

Contribution

It demonstrates that toroidally dominated magnetic fields are crucial for magnetic spot formation and axis displacement, providing new insights into neutron star magnetic evolution.

Findings

Magnetic spots form and survive for millions of years.

Dipole axis can drift at rates up to 0.4° per century.

Surface magnetic field intensity can exceed the dipole component.

Abstract

We explore magnetic field configurations that lead to the formation of magnetic spots on the surface of neutron stars, and to the displacement of the magnetic dipole axis. We find that a toroidally dominated magnetic field is essential for the generation of a single spot with a strong magnetic field. Once a spot forms, it survives for several million years, even after the total magnetic field has decayed significantly. We find that the dipole axis is not stationary with respect to the neutron star's surface and does not in general coincide with the location of the magnetic spot. This is due to non-axisymmetric instabilities of the toroidal field that displace the poloidal dipole axis at rates that may reach $0.4^{\circ}$ per century. A misaligned poloidal dipole axis with the toroidal field leads to more significant displacement of the dipole axis than the fully aligned case. Finally we discuss the evolution of neutron stars with such magnetic fields on the $P-\dot{P}$ diagram and the observational implications. We find that neutron stars spend a very short time before they cross the Death-Line of the $P-\dot{P}$ diagram, compared to their characteristic ages. Moreover, the maximum intensity of their surface magnetic field is substantially higher than the dipole component of the field. We argue that SGR 0418+5729 could be an example of this type of behaviour, having a weak dipole field, yet hosting a magnetic spot responsible for its magnetar behaviour. The evolution on the pulse profile and braking index of the Crab pulsar, which are attributed to an increase of its obliquity, are compatible with the anticipated drift of the magnetic axis.