Luminosity and cooling suppression in magnetized white dwarfs
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Abstract
We investigate the luminosity and cooling of highly
magnetized white dwarfs where cooling occurs
by the diffusion of photons. We solve the magnetostatic
equilibrium and photon diffusion equations
to obtain the temperature and density profiles
in the surface layers of these white dwarfs.
With increase in field strength, the degenerate core
shrinks in volume with a simultaneous increase in
the core temperature. For a given white dwarf age
and for a fixed interface radius or temperature, the
luminosity decreases significantly from ~ 10-6 L
to 10-9 L as the field strength increases from
10 9 to 10 12 G in the surface layers. This is remarkable
as it argues that magnetized white dwarfs can
remain practically hidden in an observed H–R diagram.
We also find that the cooling rates for these
highly magnetized white dwarfs are suppressed
significantly.