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DOE OSTI · 3388796

Relativistic Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations of Giant Magnetar Bursts

Chatterjee, Koushik [Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States); Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, Toronto, ON (Canada)] (ORCID:0000000228253590)·Philippov, Alexander [Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)] (ORCID:0000000178010362)·Beloborodov, Andrei M. [Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States); Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Garching (Germany)] (ORCID:0000000156603175)·Parfrey, Kyle [Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)] (ORCID:0000000161730099)·Ripperda, Bart [Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, Toronto, ON (Canada); Univ. of Toronto, ON (Canada); Perimeter Inst. for Theoretical Physics, Waterloo, ON (Canada)] (ORCID:0000000273013908)·Most, Elias R. [California Institute of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000204911210)
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Abstract

Gradual crustal deformation can generate strongly twisted magnetic fields around magnetars, potentially triggering giant flares with total energies exceeding 10 44 erg. In this letter, we present the first relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulation of a surface shear-driven magnetar eruption, capturing reconnection-driven plasma heating, the ejection of relativistically hot plasma, and the formation of a hot fireball confined within the inner magnetosphere. We find that magnetic reconnection in the equatorial current sheet launches a hot trailing outflow capable of powering the initial spike observed in giant flares, while simultaneously leaving behind a thermally stratified fireball with sufficient thermal energy to produce the pulsating, decaying tail. Together, these features provide a self-consistent physical framework for understanding the observed energetics of magnetar giant flares. The eruption also expels a magnetically dominated giant plasmoid carrying up to ∼9% of the magnetosphere’s total magnetic energy. Furthermore, our simulation demonstrates how the plasmoid drives the formation of a blast wave—an important ingredient in models linking magnetar eruptions to fast radio bursts.

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79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICSMagnetarsMagnetohydrodynamical simulationsPlasma astrophysicsRadio transient sourcesX-ray bursts

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Chatterjee, Koushik [Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States); Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, Toronto, ON (Canada)] (ORCID:0000000228253590), Philippov, Alexander [Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)] (ORCID:0000000178010362), Beloborodov, Andrei M. [Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States); Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Garching (Germany)] (ORCID:0000000156603175), Parfrey, Kyle [Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)] (ORCID:0000000161730099), Ripperda, Bart [Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, Toronto, ON (Canada); Univ. of Toronto, ON (Canada); Perimeter Inst. for Theoretical Physics, Waterloo, ON (Canada)] (ORCID:0000000273013908), Most, Elias R. [California Institute of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000204911210). 2026-07-24. Relativistic Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations of Giant Magnetar Bursts. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ae8997

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79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS subjectMagnetars subjectMagnetohydrodynamical simulations subjectPlasma astrophysics subject

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