Gravitational Waves from the $r$-mode instability of neutron stars: effect of magnetic field

Abstract

Studies have shown that emission of gravitational wave drives an instability in the $r$-modes of young rapidly rotating neutron stars carrying away most of the angular momentum through gravitational wave emission in the first year or so after their formation. Magnetic field plays a crucial role in the evolution of these $r$-modes and hence the evolution of the neutron star itself. An attempt is made here to investigate the role of magnetic field in the evolution of $r$-mode instability and detectibility of gravitational waves emitted by a newly born, hot and rapidly and differentially rotating neutron star. It is found that magnetic field tend to suppress the $r$-mode amplitude. The {\it signal-to-noise ratio} analysis shows that gravitational waves emitted from the $r$-mode instability from neutron stars with magnetic fields upto the order of $10^{14}$ gauss may be detectable by the Advanced LIGO at 20 Mpc.

16 pages, 27 figures