Constraints on the internal physics of neutron stars from the observational data of several young pulsars: the role of a power-law decaying dipole magnetic field

Yu-Long Yan; Quan Cheng; Xiao-Ping Zheng

doi:10.1016/j.jheap.2023.12.003

paper

Constraints on the internal physics of neutron stars from the observational data of several young pulsars: the role of a power-law decaying dipole magnetic field

arXiv:2410.23585 · doi:10.1016/j.jheap.2023.12.003

Abstract

The observational data (e.g., the timing data and magnetic tilt angles $χ$ ) of young pulsars can be used to probe some critical issues about the internal physics of neutron stars (NSs), for instance, the number of precession cycles $ξ$ and the internal magnetic field configuration (IMFC) of NSs. Evolution of the dipole magnetic field $B_{d}$ of NSs may play an important role in determining the final results. In this work, a power-law form is adopted to describe the decay of $B_{d}$ . In such a scenario, the IMFC and $ξ$ of young pulsars with an ordinary $B_{\rm d}\sim10^{12}-\-10^{13}$ G and a steady braking index $n$ are investigated. Since the tilt angle change rates $χ ˙$ of pulsars with $n < 3$ can be theoretically predicted, a test on the power-law decay model can thus be made by comparing the theoretical values to that obtained from observations. However, such a comparison can only be made on the Crab pulsar currently, and the results show that the power-law decay model is inconsistent with the Crab's observations. We suggest that rather than decay, the Crab's $B_{d}$ should increase with time at a rate $\sim 12 - 14$ G/s. A definite conclusion on the validity of the power-law decay model for pulsars with ordinary $B_{d}$ may be given if $χ ˙$ of other pulsars could be measured.

Constraints on the internal physics of neutron stars from the observational data of several young pulsars: the role of a power-law decaying dipole magnetic field

Abstract

References in corpus (43)

Cited by in corpus (2)