Luminosity and cooling suppression in magnetized white dwarfs

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 $\sim 10^{-6}\, L_{\odot}$ to $10^{-9}\, L_{\odot}$ as the field strength increases from $\sim 10^9$ 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.