The strongest cosmic magnets: soft gamma-ray repeaters and anomalous X-ray pulsars
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.read more
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Journal ArticleDOI
Thermonuclear fusion in dense stars Electron screening, conductive cooling, and magnetic field effects
TL;DR: In this article, 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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The birthplace and age of the isolated neutron star RX J1856.5-3754
Roberto Mignani,Roberto Mignani,D. Vande Putte,Mark Cropper,Roberto Turolla,Roberto Turolla,Silvia Zane,Leonardo J. Pellizza,L. A. Bignone,N. Sartore,Aldo Treves +10 more
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used the information on the age and space velocity of the XDINS RXJ1856.5-3754 to find a very likely association with the Upper Scorpius OB association, for a NS age of 0.42 ± 0.08 Myr.
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X-ray emission from isolated neutron stars
TL;DR: X-ray emission is a common feature of all varieties of isolated neutron stars (INS) and, thanks to the advent of sensitive instruments with good spectroscopic, timing, and imaging capabilities, X-ray observations have become an essential tool in the study of these objects as discussed by the authors.
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Spectral and timing properties of the magnetar CXOU~J164710.2-455216
TL;DR: The spectral and timing properties of the magnetar CXOU J164710.2 in the massive star cluster Westerlund 1.2-455216 were studied in this paper, using 11 archival observations obtained with Chandra and XMM-Newton over approximately 1000 days after the source's 2006 outburst.
Journal ArticleDOI
Poloidal-Field Instability in Magnetized Relativistic Stars
Riccardo Ciolfi,Luciano Rezzolla +1 more
TL;DR: In this article, the instability of purely poloidal magnetic fields in nonrotating neutron stars is investigated by means of three-dimensional general-relativistic magnetohydrodynamics simulations, extending the work presented in Ciolfi et al.
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