2003/10/31 by M. Rheinhardt, D. Konenkov, U. Geppert · 3 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Physics and Astronomy · #High-pressure geophysics and materials #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20034078
published as Astron.Astrophys.420:631-645,2004 · 16 pages, 16 figures, PS, submitted to A&A. Justification/discussion slightly changed/extended in replying to the referee. Changes on p. 3, 11, 13, framed by XXX marks
arxiv created 2004/01/02 · openalex publication_date 2004/05/28 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
In former papers we showed that during the decay of a neutron star's magnetic field under the influence of the Hall drift, an unstable growth of small-scale field structures at the expense of the large-scale background field may happen. This linear stability analysis was based on the assumption of a uniform density throughout the neutron star crust, whereas in reality the density and all transport coefficients vary by many orders of magnitude. Here, we extend the investigation of the Hall drift induced instability by considering realistic profiles of density and chemical composition, as well as background fields with more justified radial profiles. Two neutron star models are considered differing primarily in the assumption on the core matter equation of state. For their cooling history and radial profiles of density and composition we use known results to infer the conductivity profiles. These were fed into linear calculations of a dipolar field decay starting from various initial configurations. At different stages of the decay, snapshots of the magnetic fields at the equator were taken to yield background field profiles for the stability analysis. Its main result is that the Hall instability may really occur in neutron star crusts. Characteristic growth times are in the order of yrs depending on cooling age and background field strength. The influence of the equation of state and of the initial field configuration is discussed.