paper

Atmospheres and radiating surfaces of neutron stars

arXiv:1403.0074 · doi:10.3367/UFNe.0184.201408a.0793

Abstract

The early 21st century witnesses a dramatic rise in the study of thermal radiation of neutron stars. Modern space telescopes have provided a wealth of valuable information which, when properly interpreted, can elucidate the physics of superdense matter in the interior of these stars. This interpretation is necessarily based on the theory of formation of neutron star thermal spectra, which, in turn, is based on plasma physics and on the understanding of radiative processes in stellar photospheres. In this paper, the current status of the theory is reviewed with particular emphasis on neutron stars with strong magnetic fields. In addition to the conventional deep (semi-infinite) atmospheres, radiative condensed surfaces of neutron stars and "thin" (finite) atmospheres are considered.

43 pages, 13 figures, 1 table. In v.3, there are more than 50 minor corrections (typos, wording, style) and one important typo fix (the sign in Eq.(61)). In v.4, beside a few minor improvements, ionization equilibrium equation (58) is corrected. In v.5, a typo in Eq.(12) is fixed

References in corpus (56)

Cited by in corpus (73)