Thermal regeneration of neutron-star magnetic fields in binary radio and X-ray pulsars ?

The evolution of the magnetic fields in neutron stars, especially of those occurring in low-mass binaries, is not fully understood. It has recently been proposed that these fields are thermally regenerated (Blandford, Applegate & Hernquist). This can happen during mass transfer to the neutron star in a binary stellar system. The theory of stellar evolution in binary systems indicates the duration of the phase during which mass accretion on to the compact component takes place. The observationally estimated magnetic fields of several neutron stars, together with their accretion lifetimes, have been used to subject the predictions of the thermal regeneration model to a consistency analysis.