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Magnetic Field Decay, or Just Period-Dependent Beaming?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 July 2016

Joeri van Leeuwen
Affiliation:
Astronomical Institute, Utrecht University, PO Box 80000, 3508 TA Utrecht, The Netherlands
Frank Verbunt
Affiliation:
Astronomical Institute, Utrecht University, PO Box 80000, 3508 TA Utrecht, The Netherlands

Abstract

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Several recent papers conclude that radio-pulsar magnetic fields decay on a time-scale of 10 Myr, apparently contradicting earlier results. We have implemented the methods of these papers in our code and show that this preference for rapid field decay is caused by the assumption that the beaming fraction does not depend on the period. When we do include this dependence, we find that the observed pulsar properties are reproduced best when the modeled field does not decay. When we assume that magnetic fields of new-born neutron stars are from a distribution sufficiently wide to explain magnetars, the magnetic field and period distributions we predict for radio are pulsars wider than observed. Finally we find that the observed velocities overestimate the intrinsic velocity distribution.

Type
Part 1: Neutron Star Formation and Evolution
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of the Pacific 2004 

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