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The strongest cosmic magnets: soft gamma-ray repeaters and anomalous X-ray pulsars

Sandro Mereghetti
- 08 Jul 2008 - 
- Vol. 15, Iss: 4, pp 225-287
Abstract
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 review the observational properties of these objects, focussing on the most recent results, and their interpretation in the magnetar model. Alternative explanations, in particular those based on accretion from residual disks, are also considered. The possible relations between these sources and other classes of neutron stars and astrophysical objects are also discussed.

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Citations
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Thermonuclear fusion in dense stars: Electron screening, conductive cooling, and magnetic field effects

TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of electron screening on thermodynamic enhancement of thermonuclear reactions in dense plasmas beyond the linear mixing rule were examined. And the energy balance and ignition conditions in neutron star envelopes were evaluated, taking their detailed thermal structure into account.
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Isolated neutron stars and studies of their interiors

TL;DR: In this article, a wide view of neutron star astrophysics with special attention paid to young isolated compact objects and studies of the properties of their interiors using astronomical methods is presented.
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Self consistent models of deformed neutron stars in the framework of general relativity

TL;DR: In this article, the deformity of non-spherical neutron stars is examined by deriving the stellar structure equations in the framework of general relativity using a nonisotropic model for the equation of state.
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Systematic Analysis of the Effects of Mode Conversion on Thermal Radiation from Neutron Stars

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors 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.
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Pulsar Wind Nebulae: On their growing diversity and association with highly magnetized neutron stars

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors review the current status of neutron stars/Pulsar Wind Nebulae (PWNe) associations, and highlight the growing diversity of PWNe with an X-ray eye on their association with highly magnetized neutron stars.
References
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Book

Compact Stellar X-ray Sources

TL;DR: A decade of X-ray sources and their evolution is described in this paper, with a focus on the formation and evolution of super-soft sources and the formation of compact stellar sources.
Journal ArticleDOI

Formation of very strongly magnetized neutron stars - Implications for gamma-ray bursts

TL;DR: In this article, it is argued that a convective dynamo can also generate a very strong dipole field after the merger of a neutron star binary, but only if the merged star survives for as long as about 10-100 ms.
Journal ArticleDOI

The Soft Gamma Repeaters as Very Strongly Magnetized Neutron Stars. II. Quiescent Neutrino, X-Ray, and Alfvén Wave Emission

TL;DR: In this article, the decay rate of the core field is a very strong function of temperature and therefore of the magnetic flux density, which is not present in the decay of the weaker fields associated with ordinary radio pulsars.
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