Related papers: A note on polarized light from Magnetars
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,…
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…
When exposed to intense electromagnetic fields, the quantum vacuum is expected to exhibit properties of a polarisable medium akin to a weakly nonlinear dielectric material. Various schemes have been proposed to measure such vacuum…
In vacuum high-intensity lasers can cause photon-photon interaction via the process of virtual vacuum polarization which may be measured by the phase velocity shift of photons across intense fields. In the optical frequency domain, the…
In the present study, we consider the effects of vacuum birefringence and dichroism in strong electromagnetic fields. According to quantum electrodynamics, the vacuum state exhibits different refractive properties depending on the probe…
We present results from a circular polarimetric survey of candidate detached magnetic white dwarf - M dwarf binaries obtained using the Nordic Optical Telescope, La Palma. We obtained phase resolved spectropolarimetry and imaging…
Situation with highly magnetized neutron stars in binary systems is not yet certain. On the one hand, all best studied magnetars seem to be isolated objects. On the other, there are many claims based on model-dependent analysis of spin…
Isolated Neutron Stars are known to be endowed with extreme magnetic fields, whose maximum intensity ranges from 10^12 to 10^15 G, which permeates their magnetospheres. Their surrounding environment is also strongly magnetised, especially…
We describe the principle and the status of the PVLAS experiment which is presently running at the INFN section of Ferrara, Italy, to detect the magnetic birefringence of vacuum. This is related to the QED vacuum structure and can be…
We argue that the phenomenon of vacuum birefringence in strong inhomogeneous electromagnetic fields can be most efficiently analyzed in terms of a vacuum emission process. In this contribution, we exemplarily stick to the case of vacuum…
Currently, a number of experiments are searching for vacuum magnetic birefringence and dichroism, i.e. for dispersive and absorptive features in the propagation of polarized light along a transverse magnetic field in vacuum. In this note we…
Vacuum birefringence is one of the most striking predictions of strong field quantum electrodynamics: Probe photons traversing a strong field region can indirectly sense the applied "pump" electromagnetic field via quantum fluctuations of…
Magnetars are the most strongly magnetized neutron stars, and one of the most promising targets for X-ray polarimetric measurements. We present here the first Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) observation of the magnetar 1RXS…
The coupling of the electromagnetic field directly with gravitational gauge fields leads to new physical effects that can be tested using astronomical data. Here we consider a particular case for closer scrutiny, a specific nonminimal…
Ultramagnetized neutron stars or magnetars are magnetically powered neutron stars. Their strong magnetic fields dominate the physical processes in their crusts and their surroundings. The past few years have seen several advances in our…
The response of the QED vacuum in an asymptotically large electromagnetic field is studied. In this regime the vacuum energy is strongly influenced by the vacuum polarization effect. The possible interaction between the virtual…
Well before the radio discovery of pulsars offered the first observational confirmation for their existence (Hewish et al., 1968), it had been suggested that neutron stars might be endowed with very strong magnetic fields of…
We report on the first detection of linearly polarized x-ray emission from an ultra-magnetized neutron star with the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE). The IXPE 35 observations of the anomalous x-ray pulsar 4U 0142+61 reveal a…
Quantum electrodynamics predicts the vacuum to behave as a non-linear medium, including effects such as birefringence. However, for experimentally available field strengths, this vacuum polarizability is extremely small and thus very hard…
Lorentz invariance violations (LIV) can yield vacuum birefringence, which results in an energy-dependent rotation of the polarization vector of linearly polarized emission from astrophysical sources. It is believed that if the relative…