Effects of Anisotropy on Strongly Magnetized Neutron and Strange Quark Stars in General Relativity

We investigate the properties of anisotropic, spherically symmetric compact stars, especially neutron stars (NSs) and strange quark stars (SQSs), made of strongly magnetized matter. The NSs are described by the SLy equation of state (EOS) and the SQSs by an EOS based on the MIT Bag model. The stellar models are based on an a priori assumed density dependence of the magnetic field and thus anisotropy. Our study shows that not only the presence of a strong magnetic field and anisotropy, but also the orientation of the magnetic field itself, have an important influence on the physical properties of stars. Two possible magnetic field orientations are considered: a radial orientation where the local magnetic fields point in the radial direction, and a transverse orientation, where the local magnetic fields are perpendicular to the radial direction. Interestingly, we find that for a transverse orientation of the magnetic field, the stars become more massive with increasing anisotropy and magnetic-field strength and increase in size since the repulsive, effective anisotropic force increases in this case. In the case of a radially oriented magnetic field, however, the masses and radii of the stars decrease with increasing magnetic-field strength because of the decreasing effective anisotropic force. Importantly, we also show that in order to achieve hydrostatic equilibrium configurations of magnetized matter, it is essential to account for both the local anisotropy effects as well as the anisotropy effects caused by a strong magnetic field. Otherwise, hydrostatic equilibrium is not achieved for magnetized stellar models.

Temperature-dependent criticality in random 2D Ising models

We consider 2D random Ising ferromagnetic models, where quenched disorder is represented either by random local magnetic fields (random-field Ising model) or by a random distribution of interaction couplings (random-bond Ising model). In both cases, we first perform zero- and finite-temperature Monte Carlo simulations to determine how the critical temperature depends on the disorder parameter. We then focus on the reversal transition triggered by an external field and study the associated Barkhausen noise. Our main result is that the critical exponents characterizing the power law associated with the Barkhausen noise exhibit a temperature dependence in line with existing experimental observations.

The intermediate nebular phase of SN 2014J: onset of clumping as the source of recombination

ABSTRACT At the age of about 1 yr, the spectra of most Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) are dominated by strong forbidden nebular emission lines of Fe ii and Fe iii. Later observations (at about 2 yr) of the nearby SN 2011fe showed an unexpected shift of ionization to Fe i and Fe ii. Spectra of the very nearby SN Ia 2014J at an intermediate phase (1–1.5 yr) that are presented here show a progressive decline of Fe iii emission, while Fe i is not yet strong. The decrease in ionization can be explained if the degree of clumping in the ejecta increases significantly at ∼1.5 yr, at least in the Fe-dominated zone. Models suggest that clumps remain coherent after about one year, behaving like shrapnel. The high density in the clumps, combined with the decreasing heating rate, would then cause recombination. These data may witness the phase of transition from relatively smooth ejecta to the very clumpy morphology that is typical of SN remnants. The origin of the increased clumping may be the development of local magnetic fields.