Related papers: Polarized X-rays from Magnetized Neutron Stars
In the atmospheric plasma of a strongly magnetized neutron star, vacuum polarization can induce a Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein like resonance across which a X-ray photon may (depending on its energy) convert from one mode into the other,…
The intense magnetic fields of neutron stars naturally lead to strong anisotropy and polarization of radiation emanating from their surfaces, both being sensitive to the hot spot position on the surface. Accordingly, pulse phase-resolved…
Since the opacity of a magnetized plasma depends on polarization of radiation, the radiation emergent from atmospheres of neutron stars with strong magnetic fields is expected to be strongly polarized. The degree of linear polarization,…
New-generation X-ray polarimeters currently under development promise to open a new window in the study of high-energy astrophysical sources. Among them, neutron stars appear particularly suited for polarization measurements. Radiation from…
We review the state of the art for measuring the X-ray polarization of neutron stars. We discuss how valuable precision measurements of the degree and position angle of polarization as a function of energy and, where relevant, of pulse…
In this paper, we systematically calculate the polarization in soft X-rays emitted from magnetized neutron stars, which are expected to be observed by the next-generation X-ray satellites. Magnetars are one of the targets for these…
Neutron stars provide ideal astrophysical laboratories for probing new physics beyond the Standard Model. If axions exist, photons can develop linear polarization during photon-axion conversion in the magnetic field of a neutron star. We…
Observations show that the X-ray emission of the accreting weakly magnetized neutron stars is polarized. Here, we develop a theoretical model, where we assume the emission of the accreting neutron star coming from the spreading layer, the…
Thermal surface emissions have now been detected from more than a dozen isolated neutron stars, including radio pulsars, radio-quiet neutron stars and magnetars. These detections can potentially provide important information on the interior…
The observed polarization properties of thermal radiation from isolated, cooling neutron stars depend on both the emission processes at the surface and the effects of the magnetized vacuum which surrounds the star. Here we investigate the…
Polarization is one of the fundamental natures of electromagnetic radiation. The detection of polarization or polarized photons from distant X-ray radiating systems (such as X-ray binaries (XBs), active galactic nuclei (AGN), pulsars, and…
X-ray polarimetry missions like IXPE will be able to measure for the first time the polarization properties of accreting, weakly magnetized neutron stars in Low Mass X-ray Binaries. In this work we present simulations of the expected X-ray…
The surfaces of neutron stars are likely sources of strongly polarized soft X rays due to the presence of strong magnetic fields. Scattering transport in the surface layers is critical to the determination of the emergent anisotropy of…
This is a review of X-ray emission from all types of isolated neutron stars, with an emphasis on rotation-powered pulsars. Topics include magnetospheric and thermal emission, as well as pulsar wind nebulae.
Emission spectra from magnetars in the soft X-ray band likely contain a thermal component emerging directly from the neutron star surface. However, the lack of observed absorption-like features in quiescent spectra makes it difficult to…
The goal of this work is to develop a simple analytic description of the emission properties (spectrum and polarization) of the condensed, strongly magnetized surface of neutron stars. We have improved the method of van Adelsberg et al.…
Radiation of X-ray bursts and of accretion shocks in weakly magnetized neutron stars in low-mass X-ray binaries is produced in plane-parallel atmospheres dominated by electron scattering. We first discuss polarization produced by single…
Neutron stars (NS's) with their strong magnetic fields and hot dense cores could be powerful probes of axions, a classic benchmark of feebly-coupled new particles, through abundant production of axions with the axion-nucleon coupling and…
We examine the expected X-ray polarization properties of neutron-star X-ray sources of various types, e.g., accretion and rotation powered pulsars, magnetars, and low-mass X-ray binaries. We summarize the model calculations leading to these…
A substantial fraction of the known neutron stars resides in X-ray binaries -- systems in which one compact object accretes matter from a companion star. Neutron stars in X-ray binaries have magnetic fields among the highest found in the…