Related papers: Quantum Plasma Creation near a Magnetar
The photon spectrum emitted by a transrelativistic pair plasma is calculated in the presence of an ultrastrong magnetic field, and is shown to bear a remarkable resemblance to the rising hard X-ray spectra of quiescent magnetars. This…
Persistent activity of magnetars is associated with electric discharge that continually injects relativistic particles into the magnetosphere. Large active magnetic loops around magnetars must be filled with outflowing particles that…
Gamma-rays from pulsars can be efficiently attenuated in their magnetospheres via the mechanism of single-photon pair production and also the exotic QED process of photon splitting, which become prolific in fields approaching the quantum…
The main issue of the pulsar magnetosphere is how the rotation power is converted into both particle beams which causes pulsed emissions, and a highly relativistic wind of electron-positron plasmas which forms surrounding nebulae shining in…
Magnetars are surrounded by diffuse plasma in magnetic field strengths well above the quantum electrodynamic critical value. We derive equations of "quantum force-free electrodynamics" for this plasma using effective field theory arguments.…
Understanding the interplay of strong-field QED and collective plasma effects is important for explaining extreme astrophysical environments like magnetars. It has been shown that QED pair plasmas is possible to be produced and observed by…
We consider the details of the QED processes that create electron-positron pairs in magnetic fields approaching and exceeding 10^{14} G. The formation of free and bound pairs is addressed, and the importance of positronium dissociation by…
Pulsar magnetospheres are thought to be filled with electron-positron plasma generated in pair cascades. The driving mechanism of these cascades is the emission of gamma-ray photons and their conversion into pairs via Quantum…
We consider pair creation by collision of a couple of counterpropagating electromagnetic pulses with arbitrary frequency ratio, mostly in the context of setup with collision of optical and coherent hard X- (or gamma-) ray pulses. This…
Electron-positron pair creation in a standing wave is explored using a parameter-free quantum kinetic equation. Field strengths and frequencies corresponding to modern optical lasers induce a material polarisation of the QED vacuum, which…
Although existing technology cannot yet directly produce fields at the Schwinger level, experimental facilities can already explore strong-field QED phenomena by taking advantage of the Lorentz boost of energetic electron beams. Recent…
In the hot environments of the anomalous X-ray pulsars and the soft gamma-ray repeaters, as indicated by their luminous, pulsed, quiescent X-ray emission, $\gamma$-rays generated from the inner gaps may have shorter attenuation lengths via…
QED cascades play an important role in extreme astrophysical environments like magnetars. They can also be produced by passing a relativistic electron beam through an intense laser field. Signatures of collective pair plasma effects in…
The recently discovered soft gamma-ray emission from the anomalous X-ray pulsar 1E 1841-045 has a luminosity L_g ~ 10^{36} ergs/s. This luminosity exceeds the spindown power by three orders of magnitude and must be fed by an alternative…
A quantum kinetic equation coupled with Maxwell's equation is used to estimate the laser power required at an XFEL facility to expose intrinsically quantum effects in the process of QED vacuum decay via spontaneous pair production. A 9…
In a strong magnetic field, B > 4x10^{12} G, gamma-rays emitted nearly along curved field lines adiabatically convert into bound electron-positron pairs (positronium atoms) rather that decaying into free pairs. This process may modify the…
The ability of an intense laser pulse to propagate in a classically over-critical plasma through the phenomenon of relativistic transparency is shown to facilitate the generation of strong plasma magnetic fields. Particle-in-cell…
The anomalous X-ray pulsars and soft gamma-repeaters are peculiar high-energy sources believed to host a magnetar, i.e. an ultra-magnetized neutron star. Their persistent, soft X-ray emission (~1-10 keV)is usually modeled by the…
We consider the electron-positron plasma generation processes in the magnetospheres of magnetars - neutron stars with strong surface magnetic fields, B = 10^(14) - 10^(15) G. We show that the photon splitting in a magnetic field, which is…
QED-effects are known to occur in a strong laser pulse interaction with a counter-propagating electron beam, among these effects being electron-positron pair creation. We discuss the range of laser pulse intensities of J > 5*10^22 W/cm2…