| Abstract: | Ostensibly, white dwarfs are rather boring objects - gradually cooling down at an easily predictable pace, eventually freezing and forming a crystal lattice. Therefore, the discovery of strong magnetic fields for many white dwarfs came as a surprise.
I will explore a recently proposed suggestion that white dwarfs generate their strong magnetic fields as a byproduct of their crystallization process, similarly to the Earth's magnetic field. Specifically, I will focus on the time it takes magnetic fields to diffuse and break out to the surface where they may be observed. I will conclude with interesting implications for the late stages of stellar evolution. |