Neutron stars - thermal emitters

Abstract

Confronting theoretical models with observations of thermal radiation emitted by neutron stars is one of the most important ways to understand the properties of both, superdense matter in the interiors of the neutron stars and dense magnetized plasmas in their outer layers. Here we review the theory of thermal emission from the surface layers of strongly magnetized neutron stars, and the main properties of the observational data. In particular, we focus on the nearby sources for which a clear thermal component has been detected, without being contaminated by other emission processes (magnetosphere, accretion, nebulae). We also discuss the applications of the modern theoretical models of the formation of spectra of strongly magnetized neutron stars to the observed thermally emitting objects.

39 pages, 5 figures, 1 table, invited topical review, in The Strongest Magnetic Fields in the Universe, ed. V.S. Beskin et al. (Space Sciences Series of ISSI, Springer). In v2, Eq.(7) is corrected. In v.3, a typo in Eq.(38) is fixed and references updated

References in corpus (30)

• The ATNF Pulsar Catalogue
• Physics of Strongly Magnetized Neutron Stars
• The strongest cosmic magnets: Soft Gamma-ray Repeaters and Anomalous X-ray Pulsars
• The Magnificent Seven: Magnetic fields and surface temperature distributions
• Magnetar-like Emission from the Young Pulsar in Kes 75
• 2D Cooling of Magnetized Neutron Stars
• Pulse profiles of millisecond pulsars and their Fourier amplitudes
• Magnetic Hydrogen Atmosphere Models and the Neutron Star RX J1856.5-3754
• Atmosphere Models of Magnetized Neutron Stars: QED Effects, Radiation Spectra, and Polarization Signals
• X-ray bursting neutron star atmosphere models using an exact relativistic kinetic equation for Compton scattering
• CCOs and the hidden magnetic field scenario
• Atmospheres and radiating surfaces of neutron stars
• Model X-ray Spectra of Magnetic Neutron Stars with Hydrogen Atmospheres
• Modelling mid-Z element atmospheres for strongly-magnetized neutron stars
• Constraining the Spin-down of the Nearby Isolated Neutron Star RX J2143.0+0654
• Deep Chandra Observation of the Pulsar Wind Nebula Powered by the Pulsar J1846-0258 in the Supernova Remnant Kes 75
• Density-Functional-Theory Calculations of Matter in Strong Magnetic Fields: II. Infinite Chains and Condensed Matter
• Density-Functional-Theory Calculations of Matter in Strong Magnetic Fields: I. Atoms and Molecules
• Constraining the Geometry of the Neutron Star RX J1856.5-3754
• Carbon neutron star atmospheres
• Models of magnetized neutron star atmospheres: thin atmospheres and partially ionized hydrogen atmospheres with vacuum polarization
• Spectral features in isolated neutron stars induced by inhomogeneous surface temperatures
• Binary and recycled pulsars: 30 years after observational discovery
• XMM-Newton RGS spectrum of RX J0720.4-3125: An absorption feature at 0.57 keV
• Radiative properties of highly magnetized isolated neutron star surfaces and approximate treatment of absorption features in their spectra
• Statistical equilibrium and ion cyclotron absorption/emission in strongly magnetized plasmas
• A new look at Anomalous X-ray Pulsars
• Deep optical observations of the gamma-ray pulsar J0357+3205
• The Light Curve and Internal Magnetic Field of the Mode-Switching Pulsar PSR B0943+10
• Ionization and dissociation equilibrium in strongly-magnetized helium atmosphere

Cited by in corpus (31)

• Magnetars
• Neutron stars - cooling and transport
• Cyclotron lines in highly magnetized neutron stars
• The Dipole Magnetic Field and Spin-down Evolutions of The High Braking Index Pulsar PSR J1640-4631
• Magnetic, thermal and rotational evolution of isolated neutron stars
• Phases of dense matter in compact stars
• Constraints on Axion-like Particles and Nucleon Pairing in Dense Matter from the Hot Neutron Star in HESS J1731-347
• Magnetic, thermal and rotational evolution of isolated neutron stars
• Reheating neutron stars with the annihilation of self-interacting dark matter
• Detecting Dark Matter with Neutron Star Spectroscopy
• Heat blanketing envelopes of neutron stars
• Magneto-thermal evolution of neutron stars with coupled Ohmic, Hall and ambipolar effects via accurate finite-volume simulations
• Meta-stable low-level accretion rate states or neutron star crust cooling in the Be/X-ray transients V0332+53 and 4U 0115+63
• Systematic study on the quark-hadron mixed phase in compact stars
• Dependence of pulsar death line on the equation of state
• A deep XMM-Newton look on the thermally emitting isolated neutron star RX J1605.3+3249
• Probing the Birth of Post-merger Millisecond Magnetars by X-ray and Gamma-ray Emission
• 3D evolution of neutron star magnetic-fields from a realistic core-collapse turbulent topology
• A joint NICER and XMM-Newton view of the "Magnificent" thermally emitting X-ray Isolated Neutron Star RX J1605.3+3249
• The Masses of Isolated Neutron Stars Inferred from the Gravitational Redshift Measurements
• Classification of pulsars with Dirichlet process Gaussian mixture model
• An Overview of Compact Star Populations and Some of Its Open Problems
• Two-blackbody portraits of radiation from magnetized neutron stars
• Accurate analytical modeling of light rays in spherically symmetric spacetimes: Applications in the study of black hole accretion disks and polarimetry
• The outer crust of a cold, non-accreting neutron star within the Quark-Meson Coupling (QMC) model
• Revisiting thermoelectric effects in the crust of neutron stars
• Probing Strong Field $f(R)$ Gravity and Ultra-Dense Matter with the Structure and Thermal Evolution of Neutron Stars
• Statistical features of multiple Compton scattering in a strong magnetic field
• Magneto-rotational and thermal evolution of young neutron stars
• A Simple Model of Radiation from a Magnetized Neutron Star: Accreted Matter and Polar Hotspots
• Fast and accurate analytical formulas for light propagation in general static, spherically symmetric spacetimes