Related papers: The progenitor mass of the magnetar SGR1900+14
The origin of ultra-intense magnetic fields on magnetars is a mystery in modern astrophysics. We model the core collapse dynamics of massive progenitor stars with high surface magnetic fields in the theoretical framework of a self-similar…
Magnetars are highly magnetized neutron stars (NSs) whose evolution and radiation are governed by the decay and/or reconfiguration of their magnetic fields. The origin of magnetars remains an open question, with proposed progenitor…
We present a population synthesis study of the observed properties of the magnetars, which allows for X-ray selection effects, investigating the hypothesis that they are drawn from a population of progenitors that are more massive than…
Magnetars are regarded as the most magnetized neutron stars in the Universe. Aiming to unveil what kinds of stars and supernovae can create magnetars, we have performed a state-of-the-art spatially resolved spectroscopic X-ray study of the…
Among a dozen known magnetar candidates there are no binary objects. As an estimate of a fraction of binary neutron stars is about 10% it is reasonable to address the question of solitarity of magnetars, to estimate theoretically the…
Magnetars are isolated young neutron stars characterized by the most intense magnetic fields known in the universe. The origin of their magnetic field is still a challenging question. In situ magnetic field amplification by dynamo action is…
Extremely strong magnetic fields of the order of $10^{15}\,{\rm G}$ are required to explain the properties of magnetars, the most magnetic neutron stars. Such a strong magnetic field is expected to play an important role for the dynamics of…
The recent mass measurements of two binary millisecond pulsars, PSR J1614-2230 and PSR J0751+1807 with a mass M=1.97+/-0.04 Msun and M= 1.26 +/- 0.14 Msun, respectively, indicate a wide range of masses for such objects and possibly also a…
Magnetars are extreme neutron stars powered by ultra-strong magnetic fields ($\sim10^{14}$ Gauss) and are compelling engines for some of the most powerful extragalactic transients such as Super Luminous Supernovae, Gamma-Ray Bursts, and…
The origin of the magnetic fields in neutron stars, and the physical differences between magnetars and strongly magnetised radio pulsars are still under vigorous debate. It has been suggested that the properties of the progenitors of…
Millisecond magnetars produced in the center of dying massive stars are one prominent model to power gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). However, their detailed nature remains a mystery. To explore the effects of the initial mass, rotation rate, wind…
Magnetars are a special class of slowly rotating neutron stars with extremely strong magnetic fields -- at least an order of magnitude larger than those of the "normal" radio pulsars. The potential evolutionary links and differences between…
The distinction between the high-magnetic field pulsars (HBPs, thought to be mainly rotation-powered) and magnetars (commonly believed to be powered by their super-strong magnetic fields) has been recently blurred with the discovery of…
Magnetars, neutron stars with ultra strong magnetic fields ($B\sim 10^{14} - 10^{15}$G), manifest their exotic nature in the form of soft gamma-ray repeaters and anomalous X-ray pulsars. This study estimates the birthrate of magnetars to be…
Magnetars are neutron stars in which a strong magnetic field is the main energy source. About two dozens of magnetars, plus several candidates, are currently known in our Galaxy and in the Magellanic Clouds. They appear as highly variable…
Stellar winds blown out from massive stars ($\gtrsim 10M_{\odot}$) contain precious information on the progenitor itself, and in this context, the most important elements are carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and oxygen (O), which are produced by…
When a star exhausts its nuclear fuel, it either explodes as a supernova or more quiescently becomes a white dwarf, an object about half the mass of our Sun with a radius of about that of the Earth. About one fifth of white dwarfs exhibit…
The recent discovery of a 2 M_sun binary millisecond pulsar (Demorest et al. 2010) has not only important consequences for the equation-of-state of nuclear matter at high densities but also raises the interesting question if the neutron…
This paper suggests the idea that all neutron stars experienced at birth an ultrafast decay of their magnetic fields from their initial values to their current surface values. If the electromagnetic energy radiated during this field decay…
We present fundamental parameters of 4 massive eclipsing binaries in the young massive cluster Westerlund 1. The goal is to measure accurate masses and radii of their component stars, which provide much needed constraints for evolutionary…