Rapid rotational crust-core relaxation in magnetars

Abstract

If a magnetar interior $B$-field exceeds $10^{15}$~G, it will unpair the proton superconductor in the stellar core by inducing diamagnetic currents that destroy the Cooper pair coherence. Then, the $P$-wave neutron superfluid in these non-superconducting regions will couple to the stellar plasma by scattering of protons off the quasiparticles that are confined in the cores of neutron vortices by the strong (nuclear) force. The dynamical timescales associated with this interaction span from several minutes at the crust-core interface to a few seconds in the deep core. We show that (a) the rapid crust-core coupling is incompatible with oscillation models of magnetars that completely decouple the core superfluid from the crust and (b) magnetar precession is damped by the coupling of normal fluids to the superfluid core and, if observed, needs to be forced or continuously excited by seismic activity.

v2: minor editorial changes, final version, 5 pages, 3 figures

References in corpus (6)

• Magnetars: Properties, Origin and Evolution
• Consistent neutron star models with magnetic field dependent equations of state
• Magnetically-driven crustquakes in neutron stars
• Magnetar superconductivity versus magnetism: neutrino cooling processes
• Hydromagnetic waves in a superfluid neutron star with strong vortex pinning
• A Novel Mechanism for Type-I Superconductivity in Neutron Stars

Cited by in corpus (8)

• Heavy Baryons in Compact Stars
• Superfluidity and Superconductivity in Neutron Stars
• Neutron Stars in the Laboratory
• Constraining properties of high-density matter in neutron stars with magneto-elastic oscillations
• Equation of state of strongly magnetized matter with hyperons and $\Delta$-resonances
• Precession of magnetars: dynamical evolutions and modulations on polarized electromagnetic waves
• From microphysics to dynamics of magnetars
• Strongly interacting matter in extreme magnetic fields