On the weak magnetic field of millisecond pulsars: Does it decay before accretion?

Understand

Millisecond pulsars are old, fast spinning neutron stars thought to have evolved from classical pulsars in binary systems, where the rapid rotation is caused by the accretion of matter and angular momentum from their companion.

• During this transition between classical and millisecond pulsars, there is a magnetic field reduction of around 4 orders of magnitude, which is not well understood.
• According to the standard scenario, the magnetic field is reduced as a consequence of accretion, either through ohmic dissipation or through screening by the accreted matter.
• We explored an alternative hypothesis in which the magnetic field is reduced through ambipolar diffusion before the accretion.