Abstract
Magnetic flares and induced oscillations of magnetars (supermagnetized neutron stars) are promising sources of gravitational waves (GWs). We suggest that the GW emission, if any, would last longer than the observed x-ray quasiperiodic oscillations (X-QPOs), calling for longer-term GW analyses lasting a day to months, compared to current searches’ durations. Like the pulsar timing, the oscillation frequency would also evolve with time because of the decay or reconfiguration of the magnetic field, which is crucial for the GW detection. With the observed GW frequency and its time-derivatives, we can probe the interior magnetic field strength of and its evolution to open a new GW asteroseismology with the next generation interferometers like the advanced laser interferometer gravitational wave observatory, the advanced Virgo gravitational wave detector at the European Gravitational Observatory, the Large-scale cryogenic gravitational wave telescope, and the Einstein telescope.
- Received 16 February 2011
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.83.081302
© 2011 American Physical Society