Abstract
Magnetically confined mountains on neutron stars have been invoked to explain the low magnetic dipole moments and rotation frequencies of neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binaries. This work presents the general relativistic formulation of magnetically confined mountains and solves the resulting equations numerically, generalizing previous Newtonian calculations. The hydromagnetic structure of the accreted matter, the burial of the star’s magnetic dipole moment and the mass quadrupole moment are computed. Overall, it is observed that relativistic corrections reduce the hydromagnetic deformation associated with the mountain. The magnetic field lines are curved more gently than in previous calculations, and the screening of the dipole moment is reduced. It is also verified a decrease in the ellipticity of the star. All the results show how crucial the general relativistic treatment is for magnetically confined mountains on neutron stars.