Off-centred force-free neutron star magnetospheres

TL;DR

This paper investigates how an off-centred dipole magnetic field affects the force-free magnetosphere of neutron stars, revealing new magnetic geometries and increased spin-down luminosity, electromagnetic kick, and torque through numerical simulations.

Contribution

It introduces the first detailed study of off-centred dipole effects in force-free neutron star magnetospheres using numerical simulations and analytical comparisons.

Findings

Off-centred dipoles alter magnetic field geometry.

Force-free plasma increases spin-down luminosity.

Electromagnetic kick and torque are enhanced.

Abstract

Neutron star electromagnetic activity produces pairs that fill their magnetosphere represented to the zeroth order by the force-free approximation. Neither dissipation nor acceleration nor radiation from charged particles is expected from this simplified model. So far, only centred dipole magnetic fields have been studied in this limit. In this paper, we explore the consequences of a rotating off-centred dipole on the force-free magnetosphere, showing the new magnetic field geometry, its spin-down luminosity as well as the electromagnetic kick and torque felt by the neutron star. Solutions are obtained by time-dependent numerical simulations of the force-free regime using our pseudo-spectral code written in spherical coordinates. Our results are also compared to known analytical expressions found for the off-centred vacuum dipole by an expansion to lowest order in the parameter $\epsilon = d/R$, where $d$ is the displacement of the dipole from the stellar centre and $R$ the neutron star radius. The presence of a force-free plasma enhances the spin-down luminosity as well as the electromagnetic kick and torque with respect to a centred force-free dipole. The impact on isolated and binary neutron stars is revised in light of these new results.