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| Paper: |
Magnetic Field Decay Makes Neutron Stars Look Older Than They Are |
| Volume: |
451, 9th Pacific Rim Conference on Stellar Astrophysics |
| Page: |
231 |
| Authors: |
Zhang, S.; Xie, Y |
| Abstract: |
It is commonly accepted that a neutron star is produced, when a
massive star exhausts its nuclear fuel and ends its life in a
core-collapse supernova explosion. This scenario is confirmed by the
detection of pulsars, which are believed to be rapidly spinning
neutron stars, in the central regions of many supernova remnants.
Neutron stars and their associated supernova remnants should
therefore have the same ages. As expected, the age of the Crab
Pulsar, the first to be connected with a supernova remnant (the Crab
Nebula), can be inferred from its current spin period and its
derivative and indeed has about the same age of the supernova
remnant, that was produced from a historically recorded supernova
explosion in 1054. However most neutron stars appear to be much
older than the ages of their associated supernova remnants, a puzzle
not yet understood. Another puzzle is that so far no convincing
evidence has been found in favor of magnetic field decay in neutron
stars, that is predicted in most models of neutron stars. Here we
show convincing evidence of magnetic field decay in some young
neutron stars, and that the magnetic field decay can alter their
spinning behaviors significantly such that these neutron stars
appear much older than they really are. |
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