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G. Wunner

Publications and source records attributed to G. Wunner.

40 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Axion cyclotron emissivity of magnetized white dwarfs and neutron stars

The energy loss rate of a magnetized electron gas emitting axions a due to the process $e^- \to e^- +a$ is derived for arbitrary magnetic field strength B. Requiring that for a strongly magnetized neutron star the axion luminosity is smaller than the neutrino luminosity we obtain the bound $g_{ae}\lsim 10^{-10}$ for the axion electron coupling constant. This limit is considerably weaker than the bound derived earlier by Borisov and Grishina using the same method. Applying a similar argument to magnetic white dwarf stars results in the more stringent bound $g_{ae}\lsim 9x10^{-13} (T/10^7 K)^{5/4} (B/10^{10} G)^{-2}$ where T is the internal temperature of the white dwarf.

astro-ph↗

Radiative neutrino decays in very strong magnetic fields

The radiative decay $ν_H \to ν_L + γ$ of massive neutrinos is analyzed in the framework of the standard model with lepton mixing for very strong magnetic fields $B\gg B_{cr} = m_e^2/e \sim 4.14 \times 10^{13}$G. The analysis is based on the approximate decay amplitude obtained by Gvozdev et al. Numerical results as well as analytical approximations for the decay rate are obtained for energies of the initial neutrino below and {\em above} the electron-positron pair creation threshold $2m_e$.

hep-ph↗

Photon splitting in strong magnetic fields: asymptotic approximation formulae vs. accurate numerical results

We present the results of a numerical calculation of the photon splitting rate below the electron-pair creation threshold ($ω\le 2m$) in magnetic fields $B ~{> \atop \sim}~ B_{\rm cr} = m^2 /e = 4.414 \times 10^{9}$ T. Our results confirm asymptotic approximations derived in the low-field ($B < B_{\rm cr}$) and high-field ($B \gg B_{\rm cr}$) limit, and allow interpolating between the two asymptotic regions. Our expression for the photon splitting rate is a simplified version of a formula given by Mentzel et al. We also point out that, although the analytical formula is correct, the splitting rates calculated there are wrong due to an error in the numerical calculations.

hep-th↗

Is Compton scattering in strong magnetic fields really infrared divergent?

The infrared behavior of QED changes drastically in the presence of a strong magnetic field: the electron self-energy and the vertex function are infrared {\em finite}, in contrast with field-free QED, while new infrared divergences appear that are absent in free space. One famous example of the latter is the infrared catastrophe of magnetic Compton scattering, where the cross section for scattering of photons from electrons which undergo a transition to the Landau ground state {\em diverges} as the frequency of the incoming photon goes to zero. We examine this divergence in more detail and prove that the singularity of the cross section is {\em removed} as soon as proper account is taken of all quantum electrodynamical processes that become indistinguishable from Compton scattering in the limit of vanishing frequency of the incident photon.

astro-ph↗