MAGNETIC FIELD-DECAY-INDUCED ELECTRON CAPTURES: A STRONG HEAT SOURCE IN MAGNETAR CRUSTS

We propose a new heating mechanism in magnetar crusts. Magnetars' crustal magnetic fields are much stronger than their surface fields; therefore, magnetic pressure partially supports the crust against gravity. The crust loses magnetic pressure support as the field decays and must compensate by...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAstrophysical journal. Letters Vol. 708; no. 2
Main Authors Cooper, Randall L., Kaplan, David L.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 10.01.2010
Subjects
ABUNDANCE
ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
ELECTRON CAPTURE
ELECTRONS
GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS//MATHEMATICS, COMPUTING, AND INFORMATION SCIENCE
GRAVITATION
HEAT SOURCES
MAGNETIC FIELDS
NUCLEAR REACTIONS
NUCLEOSYNTHESIS
SOFT X RADIATION
STARS
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Summary:We propose a new heating mechanism in magnetar crusts. Magnetars' crustal magnetic fields are much stronger than their surface fields; therefore, magnetic pressure partially supports the crust against gravity. The crust loses magnetic pressure support as the field decays and must compensate by increasing the electron degeneracy pressure; the accompanying increase in the electron Fermi energy induces nonequilibrium, exothermic electron captures. The total heat released via field-decay electron captures is comparable to the total magnetic energy in the crust. Thus, field-decay electron captures are an important, if not the primary, mechanism powering magnetars' soft X-ray emission.
ISSN:2041-8205
2041-8213
DOI:10.1088/2041-8205/708/2/L80;COUNTRYOFINPUT:INTERNATIONALATOMICENERGYAGENCY(IAEA)