2011/05/24 by P. D. Lasky, Paul D. Lasky, Burkhard Zink +2 · 1 citation
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #High-pressure geophysics and materials #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #astro-ph.SR #gr-qc
paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/2041-8205/735/1/l20
published as 2011 ApJ 735, L20 · Accepted for publication in ApJL. Movies of the simulations can be seen at http://www.tat.physik.uni-tuebingen.de/~tat/grmhd/
arxiv created 2011/05/24 · openalex publication_date 2011/06/09 · arxiv updated 2011/06/13 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
We model the nonlinear ideal magnetohydrodynamics of poloidal magnetic fields in neutron stars in general relativity assuming a polytropic equation of state. We identify familiar hydromagnetic modes, in particular the "sausage/varicose" mode and "kink" instability inherent to poloidal magnetic fields. The evolution is dominated by the kink instability, which causes a cataclysmic reconfiguration of the magnetic field. The system subsequently evolves to new, non-axisymmetric, quasi-equilibrium end states. The existence of this branch of stable quasi-equilibria may have consequences for magnetar physics, including flare generation mechanisms and interpretations of quasi-periodic oscillations.