Electrical Conductivity at the Core of a Magnetar

An expression for the electrical conductivity at the core of a magnetar is derived using Boltzmann kinetic equation with the relaxation time approximation. The rates for the relevant scattering processes, e.g., electron-electron and electron-proton are evaluated in presence of strong quantizing magnetic fields using tree level diagrams. It is found that in presence of a strong quantizing magnetic field, electrical conductivity behaves like a second rank tensor. However, if the zeroth Landau levels are only occupied by the charged particles, it again behaves like a scaler of a one dimensional system.Comment: REVTEX File, 4 .eps figures (included

R-Modes on Rapidly Rotating, Relativistic Stars: I. Do Type-I Bursts Excite Modes in the Neutron-Star Ocean?

During a Type-I burst, the turbulent deflagation front may excite waves in the neutron star ocean and upper atmosphere with frequencies, $\omega \sim 1$ Hz. These waves may be observed as highly coherent flux oscillations during the burst. The frequencies of these waves changes as the upper layers of the neutron star cool which accounts for the small variation in the observed QPO frequencies. In principle several modes could be excited but the fundamental buoyant $r-$mode exhibits significantly larger variability for a given excitation than all of the other modes. An analysis of modes in the burning layers themselves and the underlying ocean shows that it is unlikely these modes can account for the observed burst oscillations. On the other hand, photospheric modes which reside in a cooler portion of the neutron star atmosphere may provide an excellent explanation for the observed oscillations.Comment: 18 pages, 1 figure, substantial changes and additions to reflect version to appear in Ap

Instability of Quark Matter Core in a Compact Newborn Neutron Star With Moderately Strong Magnetic Field

It is explicitly shown that if phase transition occurs at the core of a newborn neutron star with moderately strong magnetic field strength, which populates only the electron's Landau levels, then in the $\beta$-equilibrium condition, the quark core is energetically much more unstable than the neutron matter of identical physical condition.Comment: Six pages REVTEX file, one .eps file (included

Collapse/Flattening of Nucleonic Bags in Ultra-Strong Magnetic Field

It is shown explicitly using MIT bag model that in presence of ultra-strong magnetic fields, a nucleon either flattens or collapses in the direction transverse to the external magnetic field in the classical or quantum mechanical picture respectively. Which gives rise to some kind of mechanical instability. Alternatively, it is argued that the bag model of confinement may not be applicable in this strange situation.Comment: 8 pages, REVTEX, 3 figures .eps files (included

Chiral Properties of QCD Vacuum in Magnetars- A Nambu-Jona-Lasinio Model with Semi-Classical Approximation

The breaking of chiral symmetry of light quarks at zero temperature in presence of strong quantizing magnetic fiels is studied using Nambu-Jona-Lasinio (NJL) model with Thomas-Fermi type semi-classical formalism. It is found that the dynamically generated light quark mass can never become zero if the Landau levels are populated and the mass increases with the increase of magnetic field strength.Comment: REVTEX 11 Pages, One .eps figure (included

Discovery of the INTEGRAL X/Gamma-ray transient IGR J00291+5934: a Comptonised accreting ms pulsar ?

We report the discovery of a high-energy transient with the IBIS/ISGRI detector on board the INTEGRAL observatory. The source, namely IGR J00291+5934, was first detected on 2nd December 2004 in the routine monitoring of the IBIS/ISGRI 20--60 keV images. The observations were conducted during Galactic Plane Scans, which are a key part of the INTEGRAL Core Programme observations. After verifying the basic source behaviour, the discovery was announced on 3rd December. The transient shows a hard Comptonised spectrum, with peak energy release at about 20 keV and a total luminosity of ~ 0.9E36 erg/s in the 5--100 keV range, assuming a distance of 3 kpc. Following the INTEGRAL announcement of the discovery of IGR J00291+5934, a number of observations were made by other instruments. We summarise the results of those observations and, together with the INTEGRAL data, identifiy IGR J00291+5934 as the 6th member of a class of accreting X-ray millisecond pulsars.Comment: Accepted for publication as an A&A Letter 24/01/2005. 5 pages, 2 figure

Optical Detection of Two Intermediate Mass Binary Pulsar Companions

We report the detection of probable optical counterparts for two Intermediate Mass Binary Pulsar (IMBP) systems, PSR J1528-3146 and PSR J1757-5322. Recent radio pulsar surveys have uncovered a handful of these systems with putative massive white dwarf companions, thought to have an evolutionary history different from that of the more numerous class of Low Mass Binary Pulsars (LMBPs) with He white dwarf companions. The study of IMBP companions via optical observations offers us several new diagnostics: the evolution of main sequence stars near the white-dwarf-neutron star boundary, the physics of white dwarfs close to the Chandrasekhar limit, and insights into the recycling process by which old pulsars are spun up to high rotation frequencies. We were unsuccessful in our attempt to detect optical counterparts of PSR J1141-6545, PSR J1157-5112, PSR J1435-6100, and PSR J1454-5846.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ