Tayler instability with Hall effect in young neutron stars

Collapse calculations indicate that the hot young neutron stars rotate differentially so that strong toroidal magnetic field components should exist in the outer shell where also the Hall effect appears to be important when the Hall parameter = ω_Bτ exceeds unity. The amplitudes of the induced toroidal magnetic fields are limited by the current‐induced Tayler instability. An important characteristics of the Hall effect is its distinct dependence on the sign of the magnetic field. We find for fast rotation that positive (negative) Hall parameters essentially reduce (increase) the stability domain. It is thus concluded that the toroidal field belts in young neutron stars induced by their differential rotation should have different amplitudes in both hemispheres which later are frozen in. Due to the effect of magnetic suppression of the heat conductivity also the brightness of the two hemispheres should be different. As a possible example for our scenario the isolated neutron star RBS 1223 is considered which has been found to exhibit different X‐ray brightness at both hemispheres (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

The born-again (very late thermal pulse) scenario revisited: the mass of the remnants and implications for V4334 Sgr

We present 1D numerical simulations of the very late thermal pulse (VLTP) scenario for a wide range of remnant masses. We show that by taking into account the different possible remnant masses, the observed evolution of V4334 Sgr (a.k.a. Sakurai's object) can be reproduced within the standard 1D mixing length theory (MLT) stellar evolutionary models without the inclusion of any ad hoc reduced mixing efficiency. Our simulations hint at a consistent picture with present observations of V4334 Sgr. From energetics, and within the standard MLT approach, we show that low-mass remnants  ( M ≲ 0.6 M_⊙)  are expected to behave markedly differently from higher mass remnants  ( M ≳ 0.6 M_⊙)  in the sense that the latter remnants are not expected to expand significantly as a result of the violent H-burning that takes place during the VLTP. We also assess the discrepancy in the born-again times obtained by different authors by comparing the energy that can be liberated by H-burning during the VLTP event.     

The ultraviolet line spectrum of the soft X-ray transient XTE J1118+480: a CNO-processed core exposed

We compare ultraviolet (UV) spectra of the recent soft X-ray transients XTE J1118+480 and XTE J1859+226. The emission line strengths in XTE J1118+480 strongly suggest that the accreting material has been CNO processed. We show that this system must have come into contact with a secondary star of about 1.5 M_⊙, and an orbital period ∼15 h, very close to the bifurcation value at which the nuclear and angular momentum loss time-scales are similar. Subsequent evolution to the current period of 4.1 h was driven by angular momentum loss. In passing through a period of 7.75 h the secondary star would have shown essentially normal surface abundances. XTE J1118+480 could thus represent a slightly later evolutionary stage of A0620-00. We briefly discuss the broad Ly α absorption wings in XTE J1118+480.     

Symbiotic stars with spectral indication of bipolar ejection and stellar wind

Four out of a total of five symbiotic systems whose optical spectral lines contain satellite components indicating collimated ejection have an additional absorption of P Cyg type with different velocity. These systems are Z And, Hen 3‐1341, StHα 190, and BF Cyg. It is shown that the line profiles of every of these systems can be interpreted in the framework of a model of a collimated stellar wind from the hot compact component proposed initially to interpret the line profiles of Z And, observed during its last active phase after 2000. (© 2014 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Differential rotation in F stars

Differential rotation can be detected in single line profiles of stars rotating more rapidly than about v sin i = 10km s-1 with the Fourier transform technique. This allows to search for differential rotation in large samples to look for correlations between differential rotation and other stellar parameters. I analyze the fraction of differentially rotating stars as a function of color, rotation, and activity in a large sample of F-type stars. Color and rotation exhibit a correlation with differential rotation in the sense that more stars are rotating differentially in the cooler, less rapidly rotating stars. Effects of rotation and color, however, cannot be disentangled in the underlying sample. No trend with activity is found. (© 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Non-linear spherical Alfvén waves

We present a one-dimensional numerical study of Alfvén waves propagating along a radial magnetic field. Neglecting losses, any spherical Alfvén wave, no matter how small its initial amplitude is, becomes non-linear at sufficiently large radii. From previous simulations of Alfvén waves in plane-parallel atmospheres we expected the waves to steepen and produce current sheets in the non-linear regime, which was confirmed by our new calculations. On the other hand we found that even the least non-linear waves were damped out almost completely before 10 R_⊙. A damping of that kind is required by models of Alfvén wave driven winds from old low-mass stars as these winds are mainly accelerated within a few stellar radii.     

Torsional oscillations of magnetized relativistic stars

Strong magnetic fields in relativistic stars can be a cause of crust fracturing, resulting in the excitation of global torsional oscillations. Such oscillations could become observable in gravitational waves or in high-energy radiation, thus becoming a tool for probing the equation of state of relativistic stars. As the eigenfrequency of torsional oscillation modes is affected by the presence of a strong magnetic field, we study torsional modes in magnetized relativistic stars. We derive the linearized perturbation equations that govern torsional oscillations coupled to the oscillations of a magnetic field, when variations in the metric are neglected (Cowling approximation). The oscillations are described by a single two-dimensional wave equation, which can be solved as a boundary-value problem to obtain eigenfrequencies. We find that, in the non-magnetized case, typical oscillation periods of the fundamental     torsional modes can be nearly a factor of 2 larger for relativistic stars than previously computed in the Newtonian limit. For magnetized stars, we show that the influence of the magnetic field is highly dependent on the assumed magnetic field configuration, and simple estimates obtained previously in the literature cannot be used for identifying normal modes observationally.