Magnetar Asteroseismology with Long-Term Gravitational Waves

Abstract

Magnetic flares and induced oscillations of magnetars (super-magnetized 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 quasi-periodic oscillations (X-QPOs), calling for the longer-term GW analyses from a day to months than the current searches. Like the pulsar timing, the oscillation frequency would also evolve with time because of the decay or reconfiguration of 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 and its evolution to open a new GW asteroseismology with the next generation interferometers like advanced LIGO, advanced VIRGO, LCGT and ET.