General Relativistic Effects on the Ohmic Decay of Crustal Magnetic Fields in Neutron Stars

Abstract

The ohmic decay of magnetic fields confined within the crust of neutron stars is considered by incorporating the effect of spacetime curvature produced by the intense gravitational field of the star. It is shown that the general relativistic effect reduces the magnetic field decay rate substantially and that, especially at the late time of the evolution, the decay rate decreases by several orders of magnitude when compared with the case without the relativistic effect.