Why do neutron stars have magnetic fields

AI Thread Summary
Neutron stars possess magnetic fields despite being electrically neutral due to the magnetic moments of their constituent quarks, which have electric charges. The alignment of these magnetic fields in neutron stars is a key question, as the individual fields in ordinary matter, like air, typically cancel each other out. The discussion raises the possibility that the unique conditions within neutron stars may lead to the alignment of these fields, contributing to their strong magnetic properties. The article by W Tucker and K Tucker at NASA provides foundational insights into this phenomenon. Understanding the origins and behavior of magnetic fields in neutron stars remains a complex and intriguing area of astrophysics.
Rodney
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An article by W Tucker and K Tucker at NASA says that neutron stars have magnetic fields. If a magnetic field is created by moving charges, and neutron stars have not net charges to move, how are the fields created?
 
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Actually the neutron itself has a magnetic moment, in spite of being an uncharged particle. The answer is that the quarks that make it up have electric charges. These charges cancel out over all to make the total charge zero, but the neutron still has these individual charges moving around inside it.
 
So, then wouldn't air currents for example, cause magnitism? Since the molecules are made up of atoms, which have quarks.
 
ArmoSkater87 said:
So, then wouldn't air currents for example, cause magnitism? Since the molecules are made up of atoms, which have quarks.
Since the feidls of the netrons in the molecules are not aligned, they end up canceling each other out. Which raises a question - why are those fields aligned in a neutron star? Or is it that they are not, but the magnetic field comes from some other feature of a neutron star?
 

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