Signatures of Magnetic Flux Expulsion from Neutron Star Cores

Lander, S. K., Gourgouliatos, K. N., Wadiasingh, Z. and Antonopoulou, D. (2026) Signatures of Magnetic Flux Expulsion from Neutron Star Cores. The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 997 (1). ISSN 2041-8205

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Abstract

Shortly after a neutron star is born, the protons in its core begin to form a superconductor. In terrestrial materials, the hallmark of superconductivity is an associated expulsion of magnetic flux, but whether this expulsion process can be effective in neutron stars remains an open question—one with major implications for the phenomenology of pulsars and magnetars. Earlier theoretical arguments suggested flux must be trapped within the core, yet models of magnetars rely on it being expelled from the core and confined to the crust, where it can evolve on kiloyear timescales. We show that if expulsion is not complete, a qualitatively new evolutionary branch for neutron stars arises, which can account for the properties of newly discovered long-period radio transients and fast radio bursts in older environments. One recently proposed model that could create such field topologies has additional implications for gravitational-wave emission and predicts a characteristic energy release that, if observed, will corroborate the role of reconnection at the onset of superconductivity and can constrain the superconducting proton gap.

Item Type:	Article
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Science > School of Engineering, Mathematics and Physics
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Quantum Matter
Related URLs:	https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.38...
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	05 Feb 2026 16:38
Last Modified:	05 Feb 2026 16:38
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/101850
DOI:	10.3847/2041-8213/ae31f5

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