Related papers: Strange Pulsar Hypothesis
The theory of radiatively driven winds successfully explains the key points of the stellar winds of hot massive stars. However, there is an apparent break-down of this paradigm at L/Lsun<5.2: the stellar wind momentum is smaller than…
Magnetars are neutron stars with superstrong magnetic fields which can exceed 1e15 G. Some magnetars (the so-called soft gamma-repeaters) demonstrate occasionally very powerful processes of energy release, which result in exceptionally…
Extinct radio pulsars, in which stationary, self-sustaining generation of a relativistic electron-positron plasma becomes impossible when rotation brakes down, can be sources of a subrelativistic flux of positrons and electrons. We assume…
Anomalous X-ray Pulsars (AXPs) belong to a class of neutron stars believed to harbor the strongest magnetic fields in the universe, as indicated by their energetic bursts and their rapid spindowns. We have developed a theoretical model that…
We review the observational properties of the class of young neutron stars known as "anomalous X-ray pulsars," emphasizing the tremendous progress that has been made in recent years, and explain why these objects, like the "soft gamma…
Strange stars with low masses are suggested to exist in reality, the origin of which could be via accretion-induced collapse (AIC) of white dwarfs. Such a strange star is likely bare, and would thus spin very fast, even to a period of < 0.1…
Low energy X-ray emission (0.1-10 keV) from all six millisecond radio pulsars (MSPs) for which such emission has been reported support a proposed pulsar magnetic field evolution previously compared only to radiopulse data: old, very…
Pulsars are highly magnetized and rapidly rotating neutron stars. The magnetic field can reach the critical magnetic field from which quantum effects of the vacuum becomes relevant, giving rise to magnetooptic properties of vacuum…
We show that young pulsars with normal magnetic fields, which are born as fast rotating neutron stars (NSs) in Type II/Ib supernova explosions, can slow down quickly by relativistic particles emission along their magnetic axis. When they…
The single glitch observed in PSR B1821-24, a millisecond pulsar in M28, is unusual on two counts. First, the magnitude of this glitch is at least an order of magnitude smaller ($\Delta \nu / \nu \sim 10^{-11}$) than the smallest glitch…
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…
Two classes of X-ray pulsars, the Anomalous X-ray Pulsars and the Soft Gamma-ray Repeaters, have been recognized in the last decade as the most promising candidates for being magnetars: isolated neutron stars powered by magnetic energy. I…
Low-frequency polarisation observations of pulsars, facilitated by next-generation radio telescopes, provide powerful probes of astrophysical plasmas that span many orders of magnitude in magnetic field strength and scale: from pulsar…
Anomalous X-ray Pulsars (AXPs) are a class of rare X-ray pulsars whose energy source has been perplexing for some 20 years. Unlike other, better understood X-ray pulsars, AXPs cannot be powered by rotation or by accretion from a binary…
Existing theoretical and observational constraints on the abundance of magnetic monopoles are limited. Here we demonstrate that an ensemble of monopoles forms a plasma whose properties are well determined and whose collective effects place…
Pulsar timing observations have revealed planets around only a few pulsars. We suggest that the rarity of these planets is due mainly to two effects. First, we show that the most likely formation mechanism requires the destruction of a…
Sub-millisecond pulsars should be triaxial (Jacobi ellipsoids), which may not spin down to super-millisecond periods via gravitation wave radiation during their lifetimes if they are extremely low mass bare strange quark stars. It is…
Almost 40 years after the discovery of pulsars -- and despite a plethora of secured data on them -- pulsar theory is still beset by a number of fundamental inconsistencies. In this short contribution, I will argue that (i) magnetars do not…
(adapted)Considering recent observations challenging the traditional magnetar model, we explore the wind braking of magnetars. There is evidence for strong multipole magnetic fields in active magnetars, but the dipole field inferred from…
The high-energy sources known as anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs) and soft gamma-ray repeaters (SGRs) are well explained as magnetars: isolated neutron stars powered by their own magnetic energy. After explaining why it is generally believed…