Stochastic gravitational wave background from magnetic deformation of newly born magnetars

Abstract

Newly born magnetars are promising sources for gravitational wave (GW) detection due to their ultra-strong magnetic fields and high spin frequencies. Within the scenario of a growing tilt angle between the star's spin and magnetic axis, due to the effect of internal viscosity, we obtain improved estimates of the stochastic gravitational wave backgrounds (SGWBs) from magnetic deformation of newly born magnetars. We find that the GW background spectra contributed by the magnetars with ultra-strong toroidal magnetic fields of 1017 G could roughly be divided into four segments. Most notably, in contrast to the background spectra calculated by assuming constant tilt angles χ = π/2, the background radiation above 1000 Hz are seriously suppressed. However, the background radiation at the frequency band ∼100–1000 Hz are moderately enhanced, depending on the strengths of the dipole magnetic fields. We suggest that if all newly born magnetars indeed have toroidal magnetic fields of 1017 G, the produced SGWBs should show sharp variations with the observed frequency at several tens to about 100 hertz. If these features could be observed through sophisticated detection of the SGWB using the proposed Einstein Telescope, it will provide us a direct evidence of the tilt angle evolutions and further some deep understandings about the properties of newly born magnetars.