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Polarized emission from strongly magnetized sources

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 February 2023

Roberto Taverna
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Padova, via Marzolo 8, Padova, Italy email: [email protected]
Roberto Turolla
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Padova, via Marzolo 8, Padova, Italy email: [email protected] Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Holmbury St. Mary, Surrey, RH5 6NT, UK
Silvia Zane
Affiliation:
Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Holmbury St. Mary, Surrey, RH5 6NT, UK
Valery Suleimanov
Affiliation:
Institut für Astronomie und Astrophysik, Sand 1, D-72076 Tübingen, Germany Kazan (Volga region) Federal University, Kremlevskaja str., 18, Kazan 420008, Russia Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Profsoyuznaya Str. 84/32, Moscow 117997, Russia
Alexander Y. Potekhin
Affiliation:
Ioffe Institute, Politekhnicheskaya 26, 194021, Saint Petersburg, Russia
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Abstract

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Anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs) and Soft gamma repeaters (SGRs) form together a single class of astrophysical sources, commonly associated to magnetars. New-generation X-ray polarimeters will play a key role in assessing the nature of these sources by directly probing the star magnetic field. In the highly magnetized environment radiation is expected to be strongly polarized and such a measure will be easily within reach of IXPE and eXTP. Polarization measurements will eventually confirm the presence of ultra-strong magnetic fields, probing the magnetar scenario. In this work we will discuss theoretical expectations for the polarization signature of AXPs and SGRs and present numerical simulations for the detector response of the polarimeters currently under construction. We will also show how these sources can be used to test vacuum birefringence, a QED effect predicted by Heisemberg and Euler in the Thirties and not experimentally verified as yet.

Type
Contributed Paper
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of International Astronomical Union

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