131 research outputs found
Torsional oscillations of magnetized neutron stars with mixed poloidal-toroidal fields
The quasiperiodic oscillations found in the three giant flares of soft
gamma-ray repeaters observed to date have been interpreted as crustal
oscillations caused by a starquake following a dramatic rearrangement of the
stellar magnetic field. Motivated by these observations, we study the influence
of the magnetic field geometry in the frequencies of the torsional oscillations
of magnetized neutron stars. We use realistic tabulated equations of state for
the core and crust of the stars and model their magnetic field as a dipole plus
a toroidal component, using the relativistic Grad-Shafranov equation. The
frequencies of the torsional modes are obtained by the numerical solution of
the eigenvalue problem posed by the linear perturbation equations in the
Cowling approximation. Our results show how the asteroseismology of these stars
becomes complicated by the degeneracy in the frequencies due to the large
relevant parameter space. However, we are able to propose a testable scenario
in which the rearrangement of the magnetic field causes an evolution in the
frequencies. Finally, we show that there is a magnetic field configuration that
maximizes the energy in the perturbation at linear order, which could be
related to the trigger of the giant flare.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures, version accepted for publication in PR
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