Related papers: The fundamental plane for radio magnetars
Magnetars form a special population of neutron stars with strong magnetic fields and long spin periods. About 30 magnetars and magnetar candidates known currently are probably isolated. But the possibility that magnetars are in binaries…
The energy source powering the X-ray emission from anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs) and soft gamma-ray repeaters (SGRs) is still uncertain. In one scenario, the presence of an ultramagnetized neutron star, or ``magnetar'', with B on the order…
Pulsars play a crucial astrophysical role as the highly energetic compact radio, X-ray, and gamma-ray sources. Our previous works show that the radio pulsars found as the pulsing gamma sources by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on the board…
Several observations obtained in the last few years indicate that Soft Gamma-ray Repeaters (SGRs) and Anomalous X-ray Pulsars (AXPs) are basically a single class of isolated neutron stars. Their properties are well explained by the magnetar…
The extraordinary energetic activity of magnetars is usually explained in terms of dissipation of a huge internal magnetic field of the order of $10^{15-16}$G. How such a strong magnetic field can originate during the formation of a neutron…
We collate the evidence for rotation-powered neutron stars that are visible as X-ray sources and not as radio pulsars. Quantitative upper limits exist for the radio fluxes of eight objects, revealing a population at least an order of…
The recent discovery of the "weak field, old magnetar", the soft gamma repeater SGR 0418+5729, whose dipole magnetic field is less than 7.5 \times 10^{12} G, has raised perplexing questions: How can the neutron star produce SGR-like bursts…
Developments over the last couple of years have supported the interpretation that anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs) and soft gamma repeaters (SGRs) possess unusually high magnetic fields, and furthermore may represent a class or classes of…
Magnetars are a kind of pulsars powered mainly by superhigh magnetic fields. They are popular sources with many unsolved issues in themselves, but also linked to various high energy phenomena, such as QPOs, giant flares, fast radio bursts…
Two classes of high energy sources in our galaxy are believed to host magnetars, neutron stars whose emission results from the dissipation of their magnetic field. The extremely high magnetic field of magnetars distorts their shape, and…
I review of the observational properties of Soft Gamma Repeaters (SGRs) and Anomalous X-ray Pulsars (AXPs), two unusual manifestations of neutron stars. I summarize the reasoning for SGRs being "magnetars," neutron stars powered by the…
Magnetars are neutron stars (NSs) with extreme magnetic fields of strength $5 \times 10^{13}$ - $10^{15}$ G. They exhibit transient, highly energetic events, such as short X-ray flashes, bursts and giant flares, all of which are powered by…
Neutron stars that show X-ray and $\gamma$-ray pulsed emission must, somewhere in the magnetosphere, generate electron-positron pairs. Such pairs are also required for radio emission, but then why do a number of these sources appear radio…
Using \emph{RXTE}, \emph{Chandra}, \emph{XMM-Newton} and \emph{Swift} observations, we for the first time construct the power spectra and torque noise strengths of magnetars. For some of the sources, we measure strong red noise on…
The role of magnetic field decay in normal radio pulsars is still debated. In this paper we present results which demonstrate that an episode of magnetic field decay in hot young neutron stars can explain anomalous values of braking indices…
As the endpoints of massive star evolution, neutron stars are enigmatic celestial objects characterized by extremely dense and exotic nuclear matter, magnetospheres with positrons (antimatter), rapid rotation and ultra-strong magnetic…
The giant flares produced by highly magnetized neutron stars, "magnetars," are the brightest sources of high energy radiation outside our solar system. Serendipitous observations with NASA's Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) of the two…
Soft gamma repeaters (SGRs) and anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs) are thought to be magnetars: neutron stars powered by extreme magnetic fields. These rare objects are characterized by repeated and sometimes spectacular gamma-ray bursts. The…
Among the many different classes of stellar objects, neutron stars provide a unique environment where we can test (at the same time) our understanding of matter with extreme density, temperature, and magnetic field. In particular, the…
Magnetars are the most luminous compact objects in the stellar mass range observed in the Milky Way, with giant flares of hard X-ray power ~10^45 erg/sec being detected from three soft gamma repeaters in the Galactic neighborhood.…