Thermal luminosity degeneracy of magnetized neutron stars with and without hyperon cores

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that Joule heating in magnetized neutron stars can mask the effects of hyperons on thermal luminosity, making it challenging to determine the core composition solely from observed thermal emissions.

Contribution

It shows that Joule heating can counteract hyperon-induced cooling, leading to similar thermal luminosities in models with and without hyperons, complicating core composition inference.

Findings

Joule heating balances rapid cooling, obscuring hyperon effects.

Thermal luminosity ranges overlap for stars with and without hyperons.

Magnetar luminosities are nearly independent of hyperon presence and superfluidity.

Abstract

The dissipation of intense crustal electric currents produces high Joule heating rates in cooling neutron stars. Here it is shown that Joule heating can counterbalance fast cooling, making it difficult to infer the presence of hyperons (which accelerate cooling) from measurements of the observed thermal luminosity $L_\gamma$. Models with and without hyperon cores match $L_{\gamma}$ of young magnetars (with poloidal-dipolar field $B_{\textrm{dip}} \gtrsim 10^{14}$ G at the polar surface and $L_{\gamma} \gtrsim 10^{34}$ erg s$^{-1}$ at $t \lesssim 10^5$ yr) as well as mature, moderately magnetized stars (with $B_{\textrm{dip}} \lesssim 10^{14}$ G and $10^{31} \ \textrm{erg s}^{-1} \lesssim L_{\gamma} \lesssim 10^{32}$ erg s$^{-1}$ at $t \gtrsim 10^5$ yr). In magnetars, the crustal temperature is almost independent of hyperon direct Urca cooling in the core, regardless of whether the latter is suppressed or not by hyperon superfluidity. The thermal luminosities of light magnetars without hyperons and heavy magnetars with hyperons have $L_{\gamma}$ in the same range and are almost indistinguishable. Likewise, $L_{\gamma}$ data of neutron stars with $B_{\textrm{dip}} \lesssim 10^{14}$ G but with strong internal fields are not suitable to extract information about the equation of state as long as hyperons are superfluid, with maximum amplitude of the energy gaps of the order $\approx 1$ MeV.