Magnetars: fact or fiction?

Abstract

Anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs) and soft gamma-ray repeaters (SGRs) are enigmatic pulsar-like objects. The energy budget is the fundamental problem in their studies. In the magnetar model, they are supposed to be powered by the extremely strong magnetic fields (>~ 10^14 G) of neutron stars. Observations for and against the magnetar model are both summarized. Considering the difficulties encountered by the magnetar model to comfortably understand more and more observations, one may doubt that AXPs and SGRs are really magnetars. If they are not magnetar candidates (including magnetar-based models), then they must be "quark star/fallback disk" systems.

10 pages, 1 figure; talk at SMFN2011

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Cited by in corpus (19)

• SGRs and AXPs as rotation powered massive white dwarfs
• Wind braking of magnetars
• Two types of glitches in a solid quark star model
• Magnetic Dipole Moment of SGRs and AXPs Described as Massive and Magnetic White Dwarfs
• An accreting low magnetic field magnetar for the ultraluminous X-ray source in M82
• Anti-glitch of magnetar 1E 2259+586 in the wind braking scenario
• SGR 0418+5729: a small inclination angle resulting in a not so low dipole magnetic field?
• Pulsar braking: magnetodipole vs. wind
• Magnetars and White Dwarf Pulsars
• Absorption features caused by oscillations of electrons on the surface of a quark star
• Hard X-ray emission cutoff in anomalous X-ray pulsar 4U 0142+61 detected by INTEGRAL
• Spindown of magnetars: Quantum Vacuum Friction?
• To understand the X-ray spectrum of anomalous X-ray pulsars and soft gamma-ray repeaters
• To differentiate neutron star models by X-ray polarimetry
• Non-detection of pulsed radio emission from magnetar Swift J1834.9-0846: constraint on the fundamental plane of magnetar radio emission
• Wind braking of magnetars: to understand magnetar's multiwave radiation properties
• What can Fermi tell us about magnetars?
• Quark-cluster Stars: hints from the surface
• Is magnetar a fact or fiction to us?