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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The first outburst of the new magnetar candidate SGR 0501+4516
Nanda Rea,G. L. Israel,Roberto Turolla,Roberto Turolla,Paolo Esposito,Paolo Esposito,Sandro Mereghetti,Diego Götz,Silvia Zane,Andrea Tiengo,Kevin Hurley,Marco Feroci,M. Still,Vladimir Yershov,C. Winkler,Rosalba Perna,Federico Bernardini,Pietro Ubertini,Luigi Stella,Sergio Campana,M. van der Klis,P. M. Woods +21 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors studied the phase-resolved spectral evolution of the soft gamma-ray repeater SGR 0501+4516 with XMM-Newton observations for a 3-month period and found that the source flux decreased exponentially with a time-scale of t(c) = 23.8 d.
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Stability of magnetic fields in non-barotropic stars: an analytic treatment
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The dust-scattering x-ray rings of the anomalous x-ray pulsar 1e 1547.0-5408
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors fit the intensity decay of each ring as a function of time at different energies, obtaining tight constraints on the distance of the X-ray source, restricting to 4-8 kpc the range of possible distances for 1E 1547.0-5408.
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Axisymmetric equilibrium models for magnetized neutron stars in General Relativity under the Conformally Flat Condition
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