Internal Heating in Magnetars: Role of Electron Captures

TL;DR

This paper investigates how electron captures contribute to internal heating in magnetars, using nuclear data and theoretical models, and finds results consistent with observed neutron-star cooling.

Contribution

It introduces updated calculations of electron capture onset and heating in magnetars using the HFB-27 model, refining previous results with HFB-24.

Findings

Results align with neutron-star cooling observations

Electron captures significantly contribute to shallow heating

Numerical results are consistent across different atomic mass models

Abstract

The role of electron captures by nuclei in the shallow heating of magnetars is further investigated using both nuclear measurements and the theoretical atomic mass table HFB-27. Starting from the composition of the outer crust in full equilibrium, we have calculated the onset of electron captures and the heat released due to the slow decay of the magnetic field. Numerical results are found to be similar to those previously obtained with the HFB-24 atomic mass model and are consistent with neutron-star cooling data.