Magnetic Field Evolution in Neutron Stars: One-Dimensional Multi-Fluid Model

Abstract

This paper is the first in a series aimed at understanding the long-term evolution of neutron star magnetic fields. We model the stellar matter as an electrically neutral and lightly ionized plasma composed of three moving particle species: neutrons, protons, and electrons, which can be converted into each other by weak interactions (beta decays), suffer binary collisions, and be affected by each other's macroscopic electromagnetic fields. Since the evolution of the magnetic field occurs over thousands of years or more, compared to dynamical time scales (sound and Alfv\'en) of milliseconds to seconds, we use a slow-motion approximation in which we neglect the inertial terms in the equations of motion for the particles. We restrict ourselves to a one-dimensional geometry in which the magnetic field points in one Cartesian direction but varies only along an orthogonal direction. We study the evolution of the system in three different ways: (i) estimating time scales directly from the equations, guided by physical intuition; (ii) a normal-mode analysis in the limit of a nearly uniform system; and (iii) a finite-difference numerical integration of the equations of motion. We find good agreement between our analytical normal-mode solutions and the numerical simulations. We show that the magnetic field and the particles evolve through successive quasi-equilibrium states, on time scales that can be understood by physical arguments. Depending of the parameter values the magnetic field can evolve by ohmic diffusion or by ambipolar diffusion, the latter being limited either by interparticle collisions or by relaxation to chemical equilibrium through beta decays. The numerical simulations are further validated by verifying that they satisfy the known conservation laws also in highly non-linear situations.