Ambipolar decay of magnetic field in magnetars and the observed magnetar activities

Abstract

Magnetars are comparatively young neutron stars with ultra-strong surface magnetic field in the range [Formula: see text]. The old neutron stars have surface magnetic field somewhat less [Formula: see text][Formula: see text][Formula: see text] which clearly indicates the decay of field with time. One possible way of magnetic field decay is by ambipolar diffusion. We describe the general procedure to solve for the ambipolar velocity inside the star core without any approximation. With a realistic model of neutron star, we determine the ambipolar velocity configuration inside the neutron star core and hence find the ambipolar decay rate, associated timescales and the magnetic energy dissipated which is consistent with the magnetar observations.