Magnetically confined mountains on accreting neutron stars in general relativity

Abstract

ABSTRACT The general relativistic formulation of the problem of magnetically confined mountains on neutron stars is presented, and the resulting equations are solved numerically, generalizing previous Newtonian calculations. The hydromagnetic structure of the accreted matter and the subsequent magnetic burial of the star’s magnetic dipole moment are computed. Overall, it is observed that relativistic corrections reduce the hydromagnetic deformation associated with the mountain. The magnetic field lines are curved more gently than in previous calculations, and the screening of the dipole moment is reduced. Quantitatively, it is found that the dimensionless dipole moment (md) depends on the accreted mass (Ma) as md = −3.2 × 103Ma/M⊙ + 1.0, implying approximately three times less screening compared to the Newtonian theory. Additionally, the characteristic scale height of the mountain, governing the gradients of quantities like pressure, density, and magnetic field strength, reduces by approximately 40  per cent for an isothermal equation of state.