Diagnosing Magnetars with Transient Cooling

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Transient X-ray emission, with an approximate t -0.7 decay, was observed from SGR 1900+14 over 40 days following the giant flare of 1998 August 27. We calculate in detail the diffusion of heat to the surface of a neutron star through an intense 10 14 -10 15 G magnetic field, following the release of magnetic energy in its outer layers. We show that the power-law index, the fraction of burst energy in the afterglow, and the return to persistent emission can all be understood if the star is composed of normal baryonic material.