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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Andrei IgoshevORCiD, Dr Toby WoodORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
Central compact objects (CCOs) are young neutron stars emitting thermal X-rays with bolometric luminosities LX in the range of 1032-1034 erg s-1. Gourgouliatos, Hollerbach, and Igoshev recently suggested that peculiar emission properties of CCOs can be explained by tangled magnetic field configurations formed in a stochastic dynamo during the proto-neutron star stage. In this case the magnetic field consists of multiple small-scale components with negligible contribution of global dipolar field. We study numerically three-dimensional magnetothermal evolution of tangled crustal magnetic fields in neutron stars. We find that all configurations produce complicated surface thermal patterns that consist of multiple small hot regions located at significant separations from each other. The configurations with initial magnetic energy of (2.5-10) × 1047 erg have temperatures of hot regions that reach ≈ 0.2 keV, to be compared with the bulk temperature of ≈ 0.1 keV in our simulations with no cooling. A factor of two in temperature is also seen in observations of CCOs. The hot spots produce periodic modulations in light curve with typical amplitudes of ≤9%-11%. Therefore, the tangled magnetic field configuration can explain thermal emission properties of some CCOs.
Author(s): Igoshev AP, Gourgouliatos KN, Hollerbach R, Wood TS
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: The Astrophysical Journal
Year: 2021
Volume: 909
Issue: 2
Print publication date: 10/03/2021
Online publication date: 10/03/2021
Acceptance date: 19/01/2021
Date deposited: 22/01/2025
ISSN (print): 0004-637X
ISSN (electronic): 1538-4357
Publisher: Institute of Physics Publishing, Inc.
URL: https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/abde3e
DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/abde3e
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