title: Evidence for heating of neutron stars by magnetic-field decay.
abstract: We show the existence of a strong trend between neutron star (NS) surface temperature and the dipolar component of the magnetic field extending through three orders of field magnitude, a range that includes magnetars, radio-quiet isolated neutron stars, and many ordinary radio pulsars. We suggest that this trend can be explained by the decay of currents in the crust over a time scale of approximately 10(6) yr. We estimate the minimum temperature that a NS with a given magnetic field can reach in this interpretation.
authors.affiliation: Departament de Física Aplicada, Universitat d'Alacant, Apartat Correus 99, 03080 Alacant, Spain.
authors.forename: José A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Pons
authors.forename: Bennett
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Link
authors.forename: Juan A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Miralles
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Geppert