Joule heating and the thermal evolution of old neutron stars

Abstract

We consider Joule heating caused by dissipation of the magnetic field in the neutron star crust. This mechanism may be efficient in maintaining a relatively high surface temperature in very old neutron stars. Calculations of the thermal evolution show that, at the late evolutionary stage ($t \geq 10$ Myr), the luminosity of the neutron star is approximately equal to the energy released due to the field dissipation and is practically independent of the atmosphere models. At this stage, the surface temperature can be of the order of $3 \times 10^{4} - 10^{5}$K. Joule heating can maintain this high temperature during extremely long time ($\geq 100$ Myr), comparable with the decay time of the magnetic field.Comment: 13 pages (5 figures in the text). Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa