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MAGNETIST

Magnetic field dynamics in neutron stars and binaries

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Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena

Theoretisch-Physikalisches Institut

MAGNETIST focuses on the magnetic field dynamics in isolated and binary neutron stars (NSs) spacetimes. NSs host some of the strongest magnetic fields in the Universe; their electromagnetic emissions are crucially dependent on the field’s intensities and topologies that are determined by magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) instabilities. For isolated NSs in equilibrium, it is well known that an interior poloidal field is unstable but it remains unclear whether an equilibrium configuration exists and how such an equilibrium is reached. Part of the proposed simulations will investigate this issue by reaching higher resolutions and longer evolution times than previously achieved. In mergers, the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability (KHI) at the collisional interface is believed to be one of the crucial mechanisms for magnetic field amplification. The other proposed simulations will investigate KHI using global ab-initio approach and, for the first time, adaptive mesh techniques.