NUCLEAR MATTER IN INTENSE MAGNETIC FIELD AND WEAK PROCESSES

Abstract

We study the effect of magnetic field on the dominant neutrino emission processes in neutron stars. The processes are first calculated for the case when the magnetic field does not exceed the critical value to confine electrons to the lowest Landau state. We consider here magnetic fields up to ~10 19 Gauss. We find that fields of strength 10 15 -10 16 Gauss have significant effect on the neutronization process, for the direct URCA process the effect of the magnetic field becomes significant only at ~10 19 Gauss. In order to estimate the effect we derive the composition of cold nuclear matter at high densities and in beta equilibrium, a situation appropriate for neutron stars. The hadronic interactions are incorporated through the exchange of scalar and vector mesons in the framework of relativistic mean field theory. In addition the effects of anomalous magnetic moments of nucleons are also considered.