GRMHD simulations of accreting neutron stars with non-dipole fields

NASA's NICER telescope has recently provided evidence for non-dipolar magnetic field structures in rotation-powered millisecond pulsars. These stars are assumed to have gone through a prolonged accretion spin-up phase, begging the question of what accretion flows on to stars with complex magnetic fields would look like. We present results from a suite of general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations of accreting neutron stars for dipole, quadrupole, and quadrudipolar stellar field geometries. This is a first step towards simulating realistic hotspot shapes in a general relativistic framework to understand hotspot variability in accreting millisecond pulsars. We find that the location and size of the accretion columns resulting in hotspots changes significantly depending on initial stellar field strength and geometry. We also find that the strongest contributions to the stellar torque are from disc-connected field lines and the pulsar wind, leading to spin-down in almost the entire parameter regime explored here. We further analyse angular momentum transport in the accretion disc due to large-scale magnetic stresses, turbulent stresses, and wind and compressible effects which we identify with convective motions. The disc collimates the initial open stellar flux forming jets. For dipoles, the disc-magnetosphere interaction can either enhance or reduce jet power compared to the isolated case. However for quadrupoles, the disc always leads to an enhanced net open flux making the jet power comparable to the dipolar case. We discuss our results in the context of observed neutron star jets and provide a viable mechanism to explain radio power both in the low- and high-magnetic field case.

Automated summary

NASA's NICER telescope has provided evidence for non-dipolar magnetic field structures in rotation-powered millisecond pulsars. Researchers have used simulations to study the accretion flows onto neutron stars with complex magnetic fields, and found that the location and size of the resulting hotspots depend on the initial stellar field strength and geometry. They also discovered that the disc-connected field lines and pulsar wind play a significant role in spinning down the stars. The results shed light on the variability of hotspots in accreting millisecond pulsars.