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Updated: Jul 16, 2026

Laser-heating and Radiance Spectrometry for the Study of Nuclear Materials in Conditions Simulating a Nuclear Power Plant Accident
Published on: December 14, 2017
Evidence for heating of neutron stars by magnetic-field decay
José A Pons1, Bennett Link, Juan A Miralles
1Departament de Física Aplicada, Universitat d'Alacant, Apartat Correus 99, 03080 Alacant, Spain.
Abstract:
We show the existence of a strong trend between neutron star (NS) surface temperature and the dipolar component of the magnetic field extending through three orders of field magnitude, a range that includes magnetars, radio-quiet isolated neutron stars, and many ordinary radio pulsars. We suggest that this trend can be explained by the decay of currents in the crust over a time scale of approximately 10(6) yr. We estimate the minimum temperature that a NS with a given magnetic field can reach in this interpretation.
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