A Biography of the Magnetic Field of a Neutron Star

The study of long-term evolution of neutron star (NS) magnetic fields is key to understanding the rich diversity of NS observations, and to unifying their nature despite the different emission mechanisms and observed properties. Such studies in principle permit a deeper understanding of the most important parameters driving their apparent variety, e.g. radio pulsars, magnetars, x-ray dim isolated neutron stars, gamma-ray pulsars. We describe, for the first time, the results f...

In the presence of strong magnetic field reported to have been observed on the surface of some neutron stars and on what are called Magnetars, a host of physical phenomenon from the birth of a neutron star to free streaming neutrino cooling phase will be modified. In this review I will discuss the effect of magnetic field on the equation of state of high density nuclear matter by including the anomalous magnetic moment of the nucleons into consideration. I would then go over ...

Neutron stars have the strongest magnetic fields known anywhere in the Universe. In this review, I intend to give a pedagogical discussion of some of the related physics. Neutron stars exist because of Pauli's exclusion principle, in two senses: 1) It makes it difficult to squeeze particles too close together, in this way allowing a mechanical equilibrium state in the presence of extremely strong gravity. 2) The occupation of low-energy proton and electron states makes it imp...

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 connect...

Neutron stars contain the strongest magnetic fields known in the Universe. In this paper, I discuss briefly how these magnetic fields are inferred from observations, as well as the evidence for their time-evolution. I show how these extremely strong fields are actually weak in terms of their effects on the stellar structure, as is also the case for magnetic stars on the upper main sequence and magnetic white dwarfs, which have similar total magnetic fluxes. I propose a scenar...

Neutron stars radiate in a broad band spectrum from radio wavelengths up to very high energies. They have been sorted into several classes depending on their respective place in the $P-\dot{P}$ diagram and depending on spectral/temporal properties. Fundamental physical parameters such as their characteristic age and magnetic field strength are deduced from these primary observables. However this deduction relies mostly on interpretations based on simple vacuum or force-free r...

Modeling the dynamics of the quantum fluids within a spinning-down neutron star gives a description consistent with observed pulsar magnetic field evolution and spin-period "glitches." The long-standing problem of large predicted excesses in spin-down sustained pulsar heating from such models now see ms resolvable. However, the origin of some pulsar spin-period and pulse-shape modulations which have been interpreted as manifestations of very long period (~year) stellar preces...

Neutron stars are natural physical laboratories allowing us to study a plethora of phenomena in extreme conditions. In particular, these compact objects can have very strong magnetic fields with non-trivial origin and evolution. In many respects its magnetic field determines the appearance of a neutron star. Thus, understanding the field properties is important for interpretation of observational data. Complementing this, observations of diverse kinds of neutron stars enable ...

The observed long-term spin-down evolution of isolated radio pulsars cannot be explained by the standard magnetic dipole radiation with a constant braking torque. However how and why the torque varies still remains controversial, which is an outstanding problem in our understanding of neutron stars. We have constructed a phenomenological model of the evolution of surface magnetic fields of pulsars, which contains a long-term decay modulated by short-term oscillations; a pulsa...

In this thesis we address the question of {\em the evolution of the magnetic field in neutron stars}. There has been sufficient observational indication suggesting a causal connection between the binary history of neutron stars and the evolution of their magnetic field. In particular, it is believed that the generation of the low-field millisecond pulsars is a consequence of the processing of normal high-field neutron stars in binary systems. Therefore, in this thesis we try ...