Since stellar flares are formed from the magnetic energy of a star, is it probable to assume that neutron stars can emit stellar flares as well? If so, how would the super fluid material of the star behave? Would there be anyway to observe such phenomena?
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There are classes of neutron star called soft gamma ray repeaters (SGRs) and anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs), which emit bursts of high energy radiation that last (usually) from less than a second to maybe 100s.
It is thought that these objects have extremely strong fields of up to $10^{11}$ T, which is produced during a core collapse supernova when some sort of dynamo action augments the usual field amplification by flux conservation.
These "magnetars" are thought to have a strong magnetic field that powers the high energy radiation. Magnetic energy may be stored in the interior of the neutron star or in the magnetosphere by twisting the field into configurations with a lot of potential energy. This is then stochastically released as the field relaxes again, producing "flares". See for example Link (2014).
To some extent this process is a little bit like the magnetically powered flares on stars, but unlike stars, where the field is regenerated by an internal dynamo, it is thought that magnetar magnetic fields decay on timescales of 10,000 years.
ProfRob
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