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Open AccessJournal ArticleDOI

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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Journal ArticleDOI

Neutron stars in a perturbative $f(R)$ gravity model with strong magnetic fields

TL;DR: In this article, the effect of a strong magnetic field on the structure of neutron stars in a model with perturbative $f(R)$ gravity was investigated in the context of a quantum hadrodynamics model.
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On kHz oscillations and characteristic frequencies of accreting magnetospheres

TL;DR: In this article, the authors present expressions for the spectrum of higher frequencies arising due to the effects of higher multipole components of the magnetic field on the rotation of a star's magnetic field at radii closer to the star.
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Hard X-ray emission cutoff in the anomalous X-ray pulsar 4U 0142+61 detected by INTEGRAL

TL;DR: The anomalous X-ray pulsar 4U 0142+61 has been studied with observations from INTEGRAL, and the hard Xray spectrum in the range 18-500 keV for 4U 142+60 was derived using nearly nine years of INTEGAL/IBIS data as discussed by the authors.
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High-energy gamma-ray emission from SNR G57.2+0.8 hosting SGR J1935+2154

TL;DR: In this paper, the contribution of supernova remnants (SNRs) to high energy and very high energy gamma-ray (VHE, $E > 100$ GeV) emission due to cosmic-ray acceleration from SNR G57.2+0.8 and SGR J1935+2154 with the use of the GALPROP code is analyzed.
Journal ArticleDOI

A-STAR: The All-Sky Transient Astrophysics Reporter

TL;DR: The A-STAR (All-Sky Transient Astrophysics Reporter) project as discussed by the authors uses a coded mask instrument, Owl, operating in the low energy band 4−150 keV and a sensitive wide-field focussing soft X-ray instrument, Lobster, working over 0.15−5 keV.
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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